This is a malicious and fraudulent software being advertised as security software of a virus scanner and is also known by the name “Rogue Scanners.”    Once this gets into your computer system the software will usually display virus alerts that are false.  You will then get instructions to buy the full version so you can remove the “fictional” viral infections.  Customers who have fallen for this hoax not only waste their hard earned money but will sometimes end up with other charges on their credit card.  These charges are higher than what they expected to pay and the charges may continue to appear on their credit card statements even if you cancel.

There are three ways that you can encounter these rogue scanners; you see an advertisement offering a system tune up or the ad is offering a free virus scan, you click on a website that is fixed to exploit software vulnerabilities, or you get an email that is disguised as a news alert or a greeting card.

How to prevent scareware

This type of software is sometimes delivered through advertising channels that are legitimate and found on various websites.  The best way to prevent an infection from scareware is to disable active scripting that is being fed through a third party website.  Make sure that your anti-virus and anti-spyware that is legitimate is up to date.  Make sure that you read any email you receive in plain text and do not respond to any ads from people you do not know.

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Computer viruses are a piece of software that infects your computer and can do a lot of damage to your computer.  A computer virus may also be attached to documents or other software you may receive.  If you do not know that the software or file you are using has a virus, you will unwillingly infect your computer.  Computer viruses are designed to spread the virus from one computer to another and there are many ways this can happen.

One way is that once it has infected your computer it may automatically use your address book and send out emails to your contacts containing the virus.  This particular type of computer virus is called a worm.  The reason that it is called a worm is that this virus is a self propagating virus.

If the virus is attached to a Microsoft Word document it could attaché itself to any other document you create or modify using that program.  When you send another document using that program the virus goes along with it.

Sometimes you will get an e-card which is actually a virus masquerading itself as something fun and will secretly infect your computer.  You like the e-card so much you decide to send some from the same site to your friends and family along with the virus.

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The provision of government and financial services online is threatened by identity theft. Many people have fallen prey to these identity theft attacks. Actually, the problem is that people still manage identities in the ad hoc way, which is no longer useful because of the more sophisticated assaults from expert identity thieves. The need to develop a more comprehensive approach is accentuated with the introduction of these expert criminal attackers. To overcome this particular issue, attention should be paid to consumer education, responsible business practices, law enforcement engagement, new technology tools and expanded victim assistance.

Consumer education is important
Although there are some solutions available to deal with this issue but most people do not know about them. That is the reason why consumer education is extremely important. With an improvement in technological fields, several types of tools are there to strengthen your security. New technology tools and systems make use of interoperable vendor-neutral framework and provide consumers a safer environment to explore internet. Read the rest of this entry »