Viruses/Worms News

Microsoft threat report sees spike in rogueware infections

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Microsoft said infections by rogue security software, called rogueware or scareware, spiked dramatically worldwide in the second half of 2008, in the latest security intelligence report from the Microsoft Malware Protection Center.

The company updated its Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) in its regular security updateon Tuesday, along with 10 security patches for a record 31 vulnerabilities. The updated MSRT adds detection of a rogueware program called Internet Antivirus Pro, or Win32/InternetAntivirus.

This rogueware is similar to other rogueware programs in that it attempts to scare users into believing a virus has been found on their computer. The program runs a fake anti virus scan that detects fake viruses and asks users to purchase the phony anti virus program.

The program downloads malware including a password stealer called TrojanSpy:Win32/Chadem, Microsoft said on its security blog.

Win32/InternetAntivirus also installs a program to display messages in the browser, such as a bogus Windows Security Center. Internet Antivirus Pro shows up in the fake security center pop-up, identifying the rogueware as "unable."

Microsoft said software infection rates in the second half of 2008 were much better for users of the latest version of Windows Vista, which was 60 percent less than that of Windows XP.