Web Security News

FTC settles with rogue antivirus vendor ByteHosting

Monday, June 29, 2009

The Federal Trade Commission last week settled its case against ByteHosting, an alleged vendor of phony antivirus software known as scareware. The FTC said the defendants tricked more than 1 million people into buying fake antivirus products.

In its judgment of nearly $1.9 million against James Reno and ByteHosting Internet Services, FTC agreed to reduce the amount to $116,000 due to the defendants' inability to pay. FTC said the full judgment represented the gross revenues realized from the alleged scam.

FTC said Reno and ByteHosting were part of a massive deceptive advertising scheme that tricked consumers into buying rogue web security products, including WinFixer, WinAntivirus, DriveCleaner, ErrorSafe and XP Antivirus.

The scheme allegedly relied on deceptive advertisements featuring bogus computer scans that falsely claimed to detect viruses, spyware and illegal pornography on consumers' computers.

Reno and ByteHosting are prohibited from using deceptive scareware advertising tactics and from installing malicious programs on consumers' computers. The settlement also permanently bars Reno and ByteHosting from ever again doing business with their co-defendants.

Microsoft said earlier this month that infections by scareware spiked dramatically worldwide in the second half of 2008.
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