Incidents of fake security software fooling users into spending money on malware are on the rise. Security firm McAfee has published a report early in the year showing that up to a million people worldwide fall victim to so-called “scareware” each year. Scareware, or rogueware, is software that poses as legitimate security software but in reality are dupes to steal credit card information from users, or even worse, the software contains a Trojan Horse to spread malware. Scareware is distributed primarily through the Internet via malicious websites that pop-up windows to fool users into thinking their system may be infected. Users who click on the pop-up windows are redirected to a website that encourages them to buy fake security software online.
Scareware is especially dangerous because it hits users in many ways; by duping them out of their money, injecting viruses or other forms of malware into their system, or even holding them ransom. One common ploy is to take over the users’ system, then demand additional payment to free the data stored on the infected computer.
Fortunately, there are many ways to protect your system against scareware. One method is to use security software from legitimate and well established software vendors—through their legitimate sales channels. Another is to be prudent with offers and downloads when online. For a small business there are other ways such as blocking or filtering these malicious websites to ensure the security of the entire business. If you want to find out more about these solutions to protect small business networks, please contact Micro Doctor. We offer managed security services for small business that can protect against online threats. Our managed security service can also track where your employees browse on the Internet and report back to you discreetly how much time they are spending where.
