Lavasoft, the company behind Ad-Aware malware removal program, has put up a page that prominently displays all fake antivirus and rogue applications discovered till date for all to see.
Rogue antivirus software is a relatively new tactic of extortion where a malware posing itself as an antivirus program gets into the computer and holds it to ransom until the owner pays up. These malware infect a machine by deceiving the user into installing and paying for fake antivirus software that neither cleans the computer nor defends it against virus infection. On the contrary, these fake antivirus software are malware themselves and disable the machine of essential services like auto update and access to legitimate antivirus software, thereby making the computer vulnerable to further infection.
Earlier we published a list of 114 fake antivirus programs, sourced from Microsoft’s Malware Protection Center database. Lavasoft went one up with the Rogue Gallery by displaying hundreds and hundreds (may be even thousands) of rogue applications that users should stay clear off.
The Rogue Gallery, powered by the Malware Labs at Lavasoft, is a resource dedicated to keeping computer users safe from rogue security software. By providing a comprehensive database of current rogue security applications, you have the ability to clearly see what programs are considered rogue – and avoid them.
Although fake antivirus programs are easy to spot if you know where to look, millions of less tech-savvy folks get duped into installing rogue programs each year.
[via Download Squad]
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