A Wolf in Lamb’s skin Does antivirus becomes rogue? Strange Indeed! But, beware!! a disguised coaxer is in ambush to give a heavy blow to your PC’s security. That’s what a rogue antivirus is all about, a turncoat that emulates your ever-chum antivirus but spews out slow poison by opening a conduit for a whole armada of malware and viruses.
Who they exactly are?
An entirely dedicated class of these rogue antiviruses is being used by the charlatans to defeat the very purpose of internet security. The most exemplary among these hoodlums is fake antivirus (AV) software that hoodwinks by making you believe that your computer is actually under threat. This it does by generating fake alerts which forms the perfect cog of its modus operandi. Your agony doesn’t stops here as once you are convinced that your machine is at stake, you are then made to buy the commercial versions of the software. A single click and you land up in a fool’s paradise, a false sense of security while your PC is being looted from multiple sides. That’s not all as some AV software have the inbuilt ability to install a backdoor to let in more of its accomplice into your PC.
The Three Inroads
Out of many possible ways-in there are these three most popular ones:
- Social Engineering Techniques
This is the one which we have just discussed in the passage above. A fake scan generated by malware intimidates that your PC has been infected and then the whole drama unfolds. One click and a bag of troubles is at your doorstop. Many of the cyber ruffians use this technique to get hold of your credentials.
- Drive by Download Attack
In this type of attack, a website packed with malicious scripts is used by the cons to amplify their reach. In such a case, efforts are put in to enchant the maximum web traffic on the malicious web page and to accomplish this Blackhat search engine technique is used. Popular keywords, search phrases and most importantly current affairs form the part and parcel of this technique. If done in a proper manner, the landing page is ranked high and large traffic is diverted to the malicious site which forms the bringer for further promulgation of the rogue antivirus.
- Botnets
Last but not the least; Botnets are especially effective in promulgating the infection through a collection of compromised computers. Large botnets like Conficker and Koobface are also known to install AV software in the machines attacked by them.
The Prophylaxis
Prevention is always better than cure. This mantra upholds even in the web world. And moreover it’s not a rocket science. Just a few tips to follow and that’s well enough to keep fake antivirus at bay. Here’s a few of these do’s and don’ts:
A strong firewall is always recommended for a fortified PC, so be sure for this. Also, not to forget the strong and reliable antivirus and antispyware is a must for your PC.
Always make a point not to open the illegitimate links. Open the ones on which you can bank upon. And, especially be at a safe distance from the pop-ups.
The Prophylaxis
Prevention is always better than cure. This mantra upholds even in the web world. And moreover it’s not a rocket science. Just a few tips to follow and that’s well enough to keep fake antivirus at bay. Here’s a few of these do’s and don’ts:
A strong firewall is always recommended for a fortified PC, so be sure for this. Also, not to forget the strong and reliable antivirus and antispyware is a must for your PC.
Always make a point not to open the illegitimate links. Open the ones on which you can bank upon. And, especially be at a safe distance from the pop-ups.
- If there is a virus alert, don’t try to further work upon it. Just strike CTRL+ALT+DELETE on your keyboard and try to locate the masquerading urchin from the list of currently running programmes on Windows Task Manager and then exterminate it. A call to your computer tech support service provider is always recommended after this.
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