Antivirus 360—To What Lengths Will They Go?
The makers of rogue security tools will apparently stop at nothing to seem legitimate. Take Antivirus 360 for instance. There is a real security program out there called 360, which they’re apparently trying to capitalize on.
Aside from legitimacy differences, the real 360 is an all-encompassing (albeit rather pricey) anti-malware suite, whereas the fake one only claims to be an antivirus program. Of course, that’s not actually their game, anyway.
They want you to pay them to infect your computer with spyware. Depending on where you got the infection, it could be just $50. Otherwise, it may be your entire account. It is, after all, a corrupt security tool—it’s doubtful there are honest people at the other end of it.
These programs are a packaging of spyware and a fake security tool; in this case, it’s a bogus antivirus program. The first sign that it’s a rogue program is that it will jump in like Superman and scan your computer. It will tell you that you’re infected.
Unless it was on your computer to begin with, no real security program will do that. Nothing that’s not on your computer is watching your activity for your protection. It’s an invasion of your privacy.
“Where do you get these bugs?” you might ask. They come from infected websites and corrupt downloads. The websites are mostly of the “18 or older” variety, but really, there’s no limit to what kind of site they can use. Their home pages themselves are infected.
The download transmissions are mostly from P2P file sharing groups and pirated material. Simply put, you just don’t know what you’re getting with these things. Aside from infections, you may have the FBI show up at your door for downloading pirated stuff. Freebies aren’t worth it.
As I was saying, a rogue security program jumps right in with a pop up and tells you that you’re infected. The files that it scans are your temporary files. This is a bit of spyware technology here. Your temporary files are not infected. You may not want other people to see them, but they’re otherwise safe.
Then it makes use of another spyware type and redirects your browser to its home page. Here, it will tell you that it can remove your infection if you buy the full or registered version. You may notice also that the URL doesn’t match the address on the page. This sort of thing happens when they have to move their page when too many anti-spyware programs catch them.
Of course, you don’t want to buy their full version. Not only is it overpriced, but it’s ineffective. It may have a limited antivirus ability, but it’s not viruses that are your problem now. It’s spyware.
SpyZooka is the best hope for these types of infection. Our database stays more up to date than anyone else. We know instantly when a new bug is out, and you have the fix within minutes. That’s how our guarantee is 100%. No one else can say that.
