Viruses/Worms News

Millions fooled by 'rogueware' fake antivirus software

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Cybercriminals are earning nearly $34 million each month from selling phony antivirus software called rogueware or scareware to unsuspecting PC users, according to new research from web security firm PandaLabs.

PandaLabs researchers said the rogueware class of malware has become an instrumental player in the overall cybercriminal economy, as cybercriminals have begun to distribute rogueware via Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Google.

The researchers said the growing variety of rogueware programs has led to roughly 35 million computers being infected each month.

"Rogueware is so popular among cybercriminals primarily because they do not need to steal users' personal information like passwords or account numbers in order to profit from their victims," said Luis Corrons, PandaLabs technical director.

Cybercriminals have been creating new varieties of rogueware in order to avoid detection by legitimate antivirus software, PandaLabs said.

Rogueware typically spreads by luring web surfers to malicious sites rigged to display a warning to visitors telling them their PC has been infected by a virus, often using a fake scanning program to detect non-existent malware.

Recently, researchers detected spam email promising free downloads of the latest Harry Potter movie. When users visited the site, they were told they had been infected by malware and were urged to buy a phony antivirus product.