Rogueware and Fake Antivirus will Dominate in 2011

2010 is now on the history channel, but for some, it led to cash windfalls. Hackers and cybercriminals will continue their onslaught of attacks on social networks, rogue software peddling and fraudulent web sites.

The most popular infection method of 2010 was Trojans, making up 55.91% of all infections according to Panda Labs.

Rogueware and or fake antivirus software will continue to dominate in 2011. The biggest problem is education and not with the legitimate security software people have installed on their systems. People fall too easy for this popular online scam. Once a person sees a fake scan or pop-ups in the system tray advising of a threat, they immediately panic.

The reason why your current security program does not catch, quarantine or remove these threats is because the threats are new or your security software may not be up to date.

Take the necessary steps to avoid these threats by updating your security software. Try to avoid visiting web sites you never heard of or links that are shared with you on a social network or in an email. It is very easy to visit an unknown web site and get an infection without knowing you got one.

To be sure you don’t fall victim, download the WOT add-on which shows you which websites you can trust for safe surfing, shopping and searching on the web.

Spam is still one of the most dominate forms of spreading infections and scams. You can expect it to be the top threat in 2011. There’s no end in site and by what I read from some security researches, they also expect it to exceed 2010 totals.

Cybercrime is big business and now with Facebook as the leading playground for these crooks, expect some big and nasty things to come in 2011. If you think you can’t be scammed or infected, think again, it happens to the most savvy computer people, even yours truly.

20 Comments

Shailender on January 20, 2011 at 6:19 am

I think virus and anti-virus both are spreading very rapidly and best way to keep safe is precaution as mentioned in the post. As we all must know that precaution is better than cure.

Rebecca on January 20, 2011 at 6:41 am

Hey…according to a poll by eScan(www.escanav.com), most people think that 2011 will be an year of social engineering attacks.
Looking at the increased security conciousness amongst Internet users these days, fake antivirus could be on the list too..lets see!

Frank Jovine on January 20, 2011 at 10:41 am

Rebecca,

Very true – Social networks such as the popular Facebook will have its hands full with attacks this year, because of the user base of 500 mil+.

Bunnygotblog on January 20, 2011 at 9:32 am

Hi Frank,

Again you are watching over us, thank you.

I can’t understand how these fake downloads happens to get on the here. Is it because it is open source and any programmer can add or delete?
A year ago, I used Advir and Spybot until they wouldn’t up-date and sent a message that they were bootlegged.
Now I use software you recommended.
Thanks again.

Frank Jovine on January 20, 2011 at 10:39 am

When there’s money to be made, the criminals will always find away to get people to fill their pockets. Thanks for the kind words!

ivana on January 22, 2011 at 9:45 am

Hi Frank,

Thank you for saving my computer!!! I now just have one problem that came from this virus – i can’t use my explorer. it says that there is a connection problem but my computer is connected to my internet. I can’t even use Google. When I click diagnose connection problems it says – ‘www.google.com.au is not set up to establish a connection on port world wide web (http) with this computer.’ I then clicked verify the current proxy server confi. windows helps me getting me to internet options, connection and lan settings. it asks for me to click the use a proxy server for your lan – which is already selected.

I am guessing this issue has something to do with me not being able to re-install the host file. but i can’t do that since i cant get onto the internet from that computer. i do have the file on usb but i don’t know how to stall it from there – no idea where to put it!

Any help you would be able to provide would be VERY much appreciated!

ivana on January 22, 2011 at 9:58 am

one last bit of info – i managed to screen print the black screen that appears when you click on hosts-perm.bat. it says-

are you sure ? the system cannot find the file specified.
File not found – c:\windows\system32\drivers\ect\hosts.

ty
Frank Jovine on January 22, 2011 at 10:48 am

ivana,

Have you tried these instructions?

We now need to delete the C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\HOSTS file. Once it is deleted, download the following HOSTS file that corresponds to your version of Windows and save it in the C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc folder. If the contents of the HOSTS file opens in your browser when you click on a link below then right-click on the appropriate link and select Save Target As…, if in Internet Explorer, or Save Link As.., if in Firefox, to download the file.

Windows XP HOSTS File Download Link
Windows Vista HOSTS File Download Link
Windows 2003 Server HOSTS File Download Link
Windows 2008 Server HOSTS File Download Link
Windows 7 HOSTS File Download Link

Your Windows HOSTS file should now be back to the default one from when Windows was first installed.
- ivana on January 22, 2011 at 11:21 pm
  
  Yep tried that – no luck :(
  
  it seems that i can browse website that are secure (https) but not just normal website.
  
  anything else i can try?
  
  ty
  - ivana on January 23, 2011 at 2:42 am
    
    i figured it out Frank! all i did was reset my internet explorer and like magic it worked again…
    
    any suggestions on a good cost effective anivirus?
    
    thanks for all ur help :D
    - Frank Jovine on January 23, 2011 at 11:22 am
      
      Ivana,
      
      Way to go! Try Microsoft Essentials, it’s free and it is what I currently use along with MalwareBytes.

Chelsey Buhler on January 24, 2011 at 3:47 am

It is really hard to get rid of this spammers and i never found a free Good Anti-Virus software. Kindly if you know some send me the link here. I will be thankful to you.

karthik on January 27, 2011 at 5:31 am

Very nice and want know more about this article ..I really enjoyed reading it..plz keep updating..

gezi on February 2, 2011 at 3:23 am

Again you are watching over us, thank you.

gezi on February 2, 2011 at 3:24 am

thanks for the article, ıt’s very useful.

Ganesh on February 4, 2011 at 5:58 pm

Hi,

Could you please let me know abt system tool 2011 trojan..can system restore remove that? and how can we identifie that the free antivirus is not a trojan ot malicious software?

Frank Jovine on February 5, 2011 at 6:19 am

Ganesh,

It is best to follow the removal instructions for System Tool 2011. It takes very little time to quarantine this Trojan.

Adriano Forinelli on March 25, 2011 at 6:07 am

Avira anti-virus for home copes with all the viruses, and also free

Kusadasi on March 31, 2011 at 8:09 am

I disagree, you also have to understand that there is an opposite side thats is working hard.

Frank Jovine on March 31, 2011 at 11:17 am

You disagree? What was it that you disagree with?

Shailender on January 20, 2011 at 6:19 am

I think virus and anti-virus both are spreading very rapidly and best way to keep safe is precaution as mentioned in the post. As we all must know that precaution is better than cure.
Rebecca on January 20, 2011 at 6:41 am

Hey…according to a poll by eScan(www.escanav.com), most people think that 2011 will be an year of social engineering attacks.
Looking at the increased security conciousness amongst Internet users these days, fake antivirus could be on the list too..lets see!
- Frank Jovine on January 20, 2011 at 10:41 am
  
  Rebecca,
  
  Very true – Social networks such as the popular Facebook will have its hands full with attacks this year, because of the user base of 500 mil+.
Bunnygotblog on January 20, 2011 at 9:32 am

Hi Frank,

Again you are watching over us, thank you.

I can’t understand how these fake downloads happens to get on the here. Is it because it is open source and any programmer can add or delete?
A year ago, I used Advir and Spybot until they wouldn’t up-date and sent a message that they were bootlegged.
Now I use software you recommended.
Thanks again.
- Frank Jovine on January 20, 2011 at 10:39 am
  
  When there’s money to be made, the criminals will always find away to get people to fill their pockets. Thanks for the kind words!
ivana on January 22, 2011 at 9:45 am

Hi Frank,

Thank you for saving my computer!!! I now just have one problem that came from this virus – i can’t use my explorer. it says that there is a connection problem but my computer is connected to my internet. I can’t even use Google. When I click diagnose connection problems it says – ‘www.google.com.au is not set up to establish a connection on port world wide web (http) with this computer.’ I then clicked verify the current proxy server confi. windows helps me getting me to internet options, connection and lan settings. it asks for me to click the use a proxy server for your lan – which is already selected.

I am guessing this issue has something to do with me not being able to re-install the host file. but i can’t do that since i cant get onto the internet from that computer. i do have the file on usb but i don’t know how to stall it from there – no idea where to put it!

Any help you would be able to provide would be VERY much appreciated!
- ivana on January 22, 2011 at 9:58 am
  
  one last bit of info – i managed to screen print the black screen that appears when you click on hosts-perm.bat. it says-
  
  are you sure ? the system cannot find the file specified.
  File not found – c:\windows\system32\drivers\ect\hosts.
  
  ty
- Frank Jovine on January 22, 2011 at 10:48 am
  
  ivana,
  
  Have you tried these instructions?
  
  We now need to delete the C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\HOSTS file. Once it is deleted, download the following HOSTS file that corresponds to your version of Windows and save it in the C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc folder. If the contents of the HOSTS file opens in your browser when you click on a link below then right-click on the appropriate link and select Save Target As…, if in Internet Explorer, or Save Link As.., if in Firefox, to download the file.
  
  Windows XP HOSTS File Download Link
  Windows Vista HOSTS File Download Link
  Windows 2003 Server HOSTS File Download Link
  Windows 2008 Server HOSTS File Download Link
  Windows 7 HOSTS File Download Link
  
  Your Windows HOSTS file should now be back to the default one from when Windows was first installed.
  - ivana on January 22, 2011 at 11:21 pm
    
    Yep tried that – no luck :(
    
    it seems that i can browse website that are secure (https) but not just normal website.
    
    anything else i can try?
    
    ty
    - ivana on January 23, 2011 at 2:42 am
      
      i figured it out Frank! all i did was reset my internet explorer and like magic it worked again…
      
      any suggestions on a good cost effective anivirus?
      
      thanks for all ur help :D
      - Frank Jovine on January 23, 2011 at 11:22 am
        
        Ivana,
        
        Way to go! Try Microsoft Essentials, it’s free and it is what I currently use along with MalwareBytes.
Chelsey Buhler on January 24, 2011 at 3:47 am

It is really hard to get rid of this spammers and i never found a free Good Anti-Virus software. Kindly if you know some send me the link here. I will be thankful to you.
karthik on January 27, 2011 at 5:31 am

Very nice and want know more about this article ..I really enjoyed reading it..plz keep updating..
gezi on February 2, 2011 at 3:23 am

Again you are watching over us, thank you.
gezi on February 2, 2011 at 3:24 am

thanks for the article, ıt’s very useful.
Ganesh on February 4, 2011 at 5:58 pm

Hi,

Could you please let me know abt system tool 2011 trojan..can system restore remove that? and how can we identifie that the free antivirus is not a trojan ot malicious software?
- Frank Jovine on February 5, 2011 at 6:19 am
  
  Ganesh,
  
  It is best to follow the removal instructions for System Tool 2011. It takes very little time to quarantine this Trojan.
Adriano Forinelli on March 25, 2011 at 6:07 am

Avira anti-virus for home copes with all the viruses, and also free
Kusadasi on March 31, 2011 at 8:09 am

I disagree, you also have to understand that there is an opposite side thats is working hard.
- Frank Jovine on March 31, 2011 at 11:17 am
  
  You disagree? What was it that you disagree with?

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20 Comments