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Infamous vendor of “AntiVirus XP” badware sued
The software purveyor behind AntiVirus XP, a fake anti-virus package, has been sued and will hopefully be put out of business.
Zero Day mobile edition
There has been plenty of information available on this organization for some time, yet unsuspecting consumers continue to hand over their own money for what amounts to malware. Alex Eckelberry at Sunbelt Software has been tracking the fake software epidemic for some time, documenting some of the unmitigated gall these badware purveyors have displayed. They have even gone so far as to take out Google AdWords to push their malware. A solid breakdown of the legal events is available here.
The important thing to take away is that evaluating the quality of security products is incredibly difficult. Even independent agencies find it challenging to determine the relative effectiveness of different anti-virus products. The sad fact is that the only individuals who stand a chance of acquiring security software based upon merit alone are those of us who are in the security industry. The remainder are forced to rely upon word of mouth and marketing, and that leaves an inherent gap for badware vendors.
For those of you who have either bought AntiVirus XP or know someone who has, I recommend you remove it immediate and install a real anti-virus package from any number of reputable firms, such as Norton (Symantec), McAfee, AVG, Kaspersky, Sunbelt, Panda, and the like. If you are unsure regarding whether or not your software is classified as badware, you should consult groups such as the Berkman Center’s Stop Badware initiative.
Microsoft, Washington State Sue Scareware Purveyors - Security Fix
Microsoft, Washington State Sue Scareware Purveyors
Microsoft Corp. and the state of Washington this week filed lawsuits against a slew of "scareware" purveyors, scam artists who use fake security alerts to frighten consumers into paying for worthless computer security software.
The case filed by the Washington attorney general's office names Texas-based Branch Software and its owner James Reed McCreary IV, alleging that McCreary's company caused targeted PCs to pop up misleading security alerts about security threats on the victims' computers. The alerts warned users that their systems were "damaged and corrupted" and instructed them to visit a Web site to purchase a copy of Registry Cleaner XP for $39.95.
"We won't tolerate the use of alarmist warnings or deceptive 'free scans' to trick consumers into buying software to fix a problem that doesn't even exist," Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna said. "We've repeatedly proven that Internet companies that prey on consumers' anxieties are within our reach."
Paula Selis, who heads the attorney general's consumer protection unit, said Registry Cleaner found the same 43 "critical" errors on each PC they used to examine the software, while consumers who purchased the product were told their machines were instantly rid of the imaginary threats.
Selis said that in addition to handing their name, address and credit card numbers to someone "who is obviously a fraudster," consumers who purchased the software may have been lulled into a false sense of security, thinking the bogus software would protect them from future threats.
"We're absolutely certain that consumers across the country have been deeply affected by this," Selis said.
No one answered the phone at the number listed on Branch Software's Web site. McCreary could not be immediately reached at his home number, nor did he respond to e-mailed requests for comment.
In a separate action, Microsoft filed five "John Doe" lawsuits to learn the identities of individuals responsible for marketing other scareware products, including such titles as Antivirus 2009, Malwarecore, WinDefender, WinSpywareProtect and XPDefender. Microsoft also amended two complaints filed earlier to unmask those running SMP Soft LLC, a Delaware corporation that markets a scareware product called Scan & Repair Utilities.
The products named in the lawsuits used a variety of methods to prompt victims to install the scareware products. Scan & Repair Utilities, for example, was advertised via misleading instant message alerts sent over Skype, a popular Internet telephony service.
Other products, such as Antivirus 2009 and XPDefender, come disguised as Web browser plug-ins or "codecs" that certain Web sites claim the visitors need to install in order to view online videos. The sites typically are advertised in junk e-mail messages touting video links to adult content or international news events. The fake codecs are in fact Trojan horse programs that change a variety of settings on the victims' computers and serve the victims with incessant warnings that their computers are infected with malicious software.
Alex Eckelberry, president of Clearwater, Fla.-based security firm Sunbelt Software, said the spread of fake security software has become a pandemic.
"This is an absolutely huge problem, and these rogue anti-spyware products are what most consumer PCs are getting infected with now," Eckelberry said. Some of the most aggressive scareware products make critical changes to the victims' PCs, such as preventing consumers from restoring their computers to an earlier, known-secure state.
"These guys are doing whatever it takes to get you to buy their crap software," he said.
The lawsuits were filed under Washington's Computer Spyware Act, which among other things punishes individuals who prey on user concerns regarding spyware or other threats. Specifically, the law makes it illegal to misrepresent the extent to which software is required for computer security or privacy, and it provides actual damages or statutory damages of $100,000 per violation, whichever is greater.
Zero Day mobile edition
There has been plenty of information available on this organization for some time, yet unsuspecting consumers continue to hand over their own money for what amounts to malware. Alex Eckelberry at Sunbelt Software has been tracking the fake software epidemic for some time, documenting some of the unmitigated gall these badware purveyors have displayed. They have even gone so far as to take out Google AdWords to push their malware. A solid breakdown of the legal events is available here.
The important thing to take away is that evaluating the quality of security products is incredibly difficult. Even independent agencies find it challenging to determine the relative effectiveness of different anti-virus products. The sad fact is that the only individuals who stand a chance of acquiring security software based upon merit alone are those of us who are in the security industry. The remainder are forced to rely upon word of mouth and marketing, and that leaves an inherent gap for badware vendors.
For those of you who have either bought AntiVirus XP or know someone who has, I recommend you remove it immediate and install a real anti-virus package from any number of reputable firms, such as Norton (Symantec), McAfee, AVG, Kaspersky, Sunbelt, Panda, and the like. If you are unsure regarding whether or not your software is classified as badware, you should consult groups such as the Berkman Center’s Stop Badware initiative.
Microsoft, Washington State Sue Scareware Purveyors - Security Fix
Microsoft, Washington State Sue Scareware Purveyors
Microsoft Corp. and the state of Washington this week filed lawsuits against a slew of "scareware" purveyors, scam artists who use fake security alerts to frighten consumers into paying for worthless computer security software.
The case filed by the Washington attorney general's office names Texas-based Branch Software and its owner James Reed McCreary IV, alleging that McCreary's company caused targeted PCs to pop up misleading security alerts about security threats on the victims' computers. The alerts warned users that their systems were "damaged and corrupted" and instructed them to visit a Web site to purchase a copy of Registry Cleaner XP for $39.95.
"We won't tolerate the use of alarmist warnings or deceptive 'free scans' to trick consumers into buying software to fix a problem that doesn't even exist," Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna said. "We've repeatedly proven that Internet companies that prey on consumers' anxieties are within our reach."
Paula Selis, who heads the attorney general's consumer protection unit, said Registry Cleaner found the same 43 "critical" errors on each PC they used to examine the software, while consumers who purchased the product were told their machines were instantly rid of the imaginary threats.
Selis said that in addition to handing their name, address and credit card numbers to someone "who is obviously a fraudster," consumers who purchased the software may have been lulled into a false sense of security, thinking the bogus software would protect them from future threats.
"We're absolutely certain that consumers across the country have been deeply affected by this," Selis said.
No one answered the phone at the number listed on Branch Software's Web site. McCreary could not be immediately reached at his home number, nor did he respond to e-mailed requests for comment.
In a separate action, Microsoft filed five "John Doe" lawsuits to learn the identities of individuals responsible for marketing other scareware products, including such titles as Antivirus 2009, Malwarecore, WinDefender, WinSpywareProtect and XPDefender. Microsoft also amended two complaints filed earlier to unmask those running SMP Soft LLC, a Delaware corporation that markets a scareware product called Scan & Repair Utilities.
The products named in the lawsuits used a variety of methods to prompt victims to install the scareware products. Scan & Repair Utilities, for example, was advertised via misleading instant message alerts sent over Skype, a popular Internet telephony service.
Other products, such as Antivirus 2009 and XPDefender, come disguised as Web browser plug-ins or "codecs" that certain Web sites claim the visitors need to install in order to view online videos. The sites typically are advertised in junk e-mail messages touting video links to adult content or international news events. The fake codecs are in fact Trojan horse programs that change a variety of settings on the victims' computers and serve the victims with incessant warnings that their computers are infected with malicious software.
Alex Eckelberry, president of Clearwater, Fla.-based security firm Sunbelt Software, said the spread of fake security software has become a pandemic.
"This is an absolutely huge problem, and these rogue anti-spyware products are what most consumer PCs are getting infected with now," Eckelberry said. Some of the most aggressive scareware products make critical changes to the victims' PCs, such as preventing consumers from restoring their computers to an earlier, known-secure state.
"These guys are doing whatever it takes to get you to buy their crap software," he said.
The lawsuits were filed under Washington's Computer Spyware Act, which among other things punishes individuals who prey on user concerns regarding spyware or other threats. Specifically, the law makes it illegal to misrepresent the extent to which software is required for computer security or privacy, and it provides actual damages or statutory damages of $100,000 per violation, whichever is greater.
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