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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Most everyone has anti-virus software on their computer to help protect their computer from an infected downloaded file. Anti-virus software can sometimes make a mistake and give you a false positive or even have the alert reappear after you told the software to remove it.

Here are some ways to tell if the virus alert is real.

1. Location-Where the alert is located can have significant bearing on whether it is real or not. If you are seeing repeated warnings or alerts about the infection it could be because you have some type of non-active malware that is trapped in one of the folders from the system restore. It may also be just a remnant trapped in some other spot causing the alert.
2. Origination—where it came from might mean anything such as a high risk origin would mean an attachment in an email or files that are downloaded from some file sharing network. High risk can also include a download that is unexpected that is the result from instant messaging or an email link.
3. Purpose—is the file that is triggering the alert one that you need and expected. Consider a file that is unexpectedly downloaded as high risk and is likely malicious. Be careful about what you run on your computer system is one way to eliminate a virus infection. If you did download it, you need it, but your anti-virus software is still giving you an alert, get another opinion. Read the rest of this entry »

Any type of malware is not good but there are some that are more damaging than others causing your to lose files, total loss of security, and even identity theft.  Here are some of the most damaging malware that you do not want to find on your computer.

Overwriting Viruses

There are some viruses that can cause certain file to be deleted and even the whole drive contents.  If a user acts fast enough the deleted files may be able to be recovered.  What an overwriting virus does is to use malicious code and over write the original file using the code.  When this happens, the file cannot be recovered because it was replaced or modified.

Ramsomware Trojans

This type of malicious malware will encrypt files on your infected computer and then ask for money in exchange for the decryption key.  The victim is affected in two different ways.  They cannot access their important files and they are a victim of extortion.

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Using spyware is just one of many ways identity thieves use to get the personal information that they need to steal your personal information.  Some experts are estimating that at least eighty percent of all personal computers are infected with some type of spyware and this problem is showing no signs of stopping.

The definition for spyware is that it is any type of software that is malicious and collects personal information.  Once it has been downloaded and installed on your PC it can do two things which are sitting quietly collecting your user names, passwords, and account number, or the configuration of your computer can be changed.  When configuration is changed it will let a hacker access your computer even though you are protected by any security software or firewall which is a good  identity theft protection practice.

Sometimes it is hard to spot spyware which can make it hard to control. There are some spyware programs that can be disguise so well that your computer can be infected and you not know it.  This is rare because most computers that are infected with spyware will have at least one indication that alerts you to infection from spyware.
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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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