scareware becoming huge business.

[hansdown]

I know this has been talked about before, but it really is something everyone should be aware of.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8313678.stm

[pwnst*r]

i agree, good article. this kind of stuff can't be stressed enough. i just sent article that along with some tips to my family/friends.

[3rdalbum]

Oh yeah. Well, you walk into any computer store and they've got a whole aisle dedicated to scareware. You know, that software that you buy and install and it makes your computer run slowly; and if you don't have every single function of it enabled it tells you that "Your computer is not protected!" every time you start up.

Yeah, I hate that scareware.

[t0p]

i agree, good article. this kind of stuff can't be stressed enough. i just sent article that along with some tips to my family/friends.

I think I shall do likewise. But I'm a bit unsure what advice to give my Windows-using friends (other than to dump Internet Explorer - I try, but some of my mates are stick-in-the-muds who think that big "E" on the desktop is the internet). For instance, can you block pop-up ads in IE? How?

I'm also curious as to how these particular ads work. The article says "They appear, often when the user is switching between websites". So, if I'm switching from website A to website B and the ad appears, which site is it actually on?

It would be a good idea to penalize the sites which carry these ads (or rather, the ad service these sites are using). They are profiting from ads which they must know are part of a scareware scam.

[stuart.reinke]

i agree, good article. this kind of stuff can't be stressed enough. i just sent article that along with some tips to my family/friends.

I did the same.

Of course I had to throw in a plug for Linux/Ubuntu \\:D/

[pwnst*r]

I think I shall do likewise. But I'm a bit unsure what advice to give my Windows-using friends (other than to dump Internet Explorer - I try, but some of my mates are stick-in-the-muds who think that big "E" on the desktop is the internet). For instance, can you block pop-up ads in IE? How?

I'm also curious as to how these particular ads work. The article says "They appear, often when the user is switching between websites". So, if I'm switching from website A to website B and the ad appears, which site is it actually on?

It would be a good idea to penalize the sites which carry these ads (or rather, the ad service these sites are using). They are profiting from ads which they must know are part of a scareware scam.

i'm fortunate that my immediate family uses FF as default and some with noscript, so that's at least a little of the battle. as per usual, it's behavioral, so computing habits are the biggest factor of course.

good question about the ad. since i don't get popups i'm not sure, but now i'd like to find out what site a particular pop up points to or look at the page source.

and i wholeheartedly agree with your last statement. it should be a fkn crime.

[Warpnow]

i'm fortunate that my immediate family uses FF as default and some with noscript, so that's at least a little of the battle. as per usual, it's behavioral, so computing habits are the biggest factor of course.

good question about the ad. since i don't get popups i'm not sure, but now i'd like to find out what site a particular pop up points to or look at the page source.

and i wholeheartedly agree with your last statement. it should be a fkn crime.

Browse some warez sites for a few minutes without any adblocking or such...you'll see em...

The ones I see look like windows XP boxes and say, like...

scanning...
scanning...
scanning...

We have found 13 viruses on your computer! Click here to remove them!

They usually even have a windows xp style load bar, and look convincingly like an application.

[mamamia88]

thats it i'm sticking with Linux and only using windows for non internet related activity like gaming

[NoaHall]

thats it i'm sticking with Linux and only using windows for non internet related activity like gaming

You've been scared into using a Linux-based OS?... Linux-based operating systems are now scareware...

[mamamia88]

lol i just don't want to deal with bs

[Warpnow]

You've been scared into using a Linux-based OS?... Linux-based operating systems are now scareware...

Mwuhahahahahaha!!!!!!

*fires up gimp and begins typing something about windows causing cancer in fetus's*

[RiceMonster]

thats it i'm sticking with Linux and only using windows for non internet related activity like gaming

Uhhh... these ads are pretty easy to identify and avoid. If you're good with computers you shouldn't have to worry. They're social engineering tricks, you know.

[mamamia88]

Uhhh... these ads are pretty easy to identify and avoid. If you're good with computers you shouldn't have to worry. They're social engineering tricks, you know.

yeah i know i guess i am pretty good at computers and i'm not stupid enough to fall for one of these

[3rdalbum]

Uhhh... these ads are pretty easy to identify and avoid. If you're good with computers you shouldn't have to worry. They're social engineering tricks, you know.

They are darned hard to get rid of though; my father's computer got one of those fake virus scanners and it took me hours to download multiple pieces of software that refused to fully remove the infection, and then finally I found one anti-malware program that told me where on the Windows disk the virus was located; and then it took another five minutes to boot up the Ubuntu CD and actually delete the file.

I think the whole point of the scareware is that comparatively few Windows users are "good with computers", and even fewer have a live CD they can use to actually get rid of the infection.

[the fix it man]

Uhhh... these ads are pretty easy to identify and avoid. If you're good with computers you shouldn't have to worry. They're social engineering tricks, you know.


Sure but by default people are credulous.

[pwnst*r]

Browse some warez sites for a few minutes without any adblocking or such...you'll see em...

The ones I see look like windows XP boxes and say, like...

scanning...
scanning...
scanning...

We have found 13 viruses on your computer! Click here to remove them!

They usually even have a windows xp style load bar, and look convincingly like an application.

i know what they look like and how to get them. what i'm saying is that t0p asked a good question and now i want to know between two sites if there's a way to see which site is linked to said popup.

[jwbrase]

Of course, one reason to use Linux is that it adds to the entertainment value of watching these people try to trick you. About a week ago I got spammed with the following message on Skype:


[16:25:19] Online Notification: ******************************************
URGENT SYSTEM SCAN NOTIFICATION ! PLEASE READ CAREFULLY !!

http://www.scanupdate.net/

For the link to become active, please click on 'Add to contacts' skype button or type it in manually into your web browser !

FULL DETAILS OF SCAN RESULT BELOW
******************************************

WINDOWS REQUIRES IMMEDIATE ATTENTION

ATTENTION ! Security Center has detected
malware on your computer !

Affected Software:

Microsoft Windows Vista
Microsoft Windows XP
Microsoft Windows 2000
Microsoft Windows Server 2003

Impact of Vulnerability: Remote Code Execution / Virus Infection /
Unexpected shutdowns

Recommendation: Users running vulnerable version should install a repair utility immediately

Your system IS affected, download the patch from the address below !
Failure to do so may result in severe computer malfunction.

http://www.scanupdate.net/

For the link to become active, please click on 'Add to contacts' skype button or type it in manually into your web browser !

Since their "scan" didn't even get my OS right, their sales pitch fell rather flat...

[starcannon]

Scareware has seen a real surge lately I've noticed. The tactic has been around for 10+ years now, but for some reason, within the last 3 months or so it's really become a popular scamming mechanism. I wonder what drives trends among scammers. I should think maybe a good deal of the scareware sites all lead back to the same organization, but I don't know that for sure.

If you didn't ask for it, you don't want it folks. If you don't know what it is, don't install it. If it was unsolicited, ignore it.

[CharmyBee]

There's been a huge spike of these since the infamous GATOR spyware in 2000. It's why I avoid shareware/themes/screensaver sites now, since anything released could be scareware if newer than the year 2000. Unfortunately, it only allows me to trust the '90s, which is fading as these scarewares dominate all over and Oberon Media and Pop Cap takes over the shareware game world.

On Windows I often have COMODO blocking unwanted 'protections' when I launch certain games. The games launch fine, but the "protections" aren't able to root in. ;D

[marco123]

Uhhh... these ads are pretty easy to identify and avoid. If you're good with computers you shouldn't have to worry. They're social engineering tricks, you know.

I posted a thread in the Security forum a while back where I nuked a VM with scareware. Twas fun.:D At least all you have to do with a VM is delete it when your finished. I had to actively seek out the malware though and allow it to install, wasn't easy believe it or not!

Take a look at the pics:

[hyperAura]

i remember having these pop ups a lot.. fortunately never downloaded or paid them..

[Exodist]

I think I shall do likewise. But I'm a bit unsure what advice to give my Windows-using friends (other than to dump Internet Explorer - I try, but some of my mates are stick-in-the-muds who think that big "E" on the desktop is the internet). For instance, can you block pop-up ads in IE? How?


Its happens to more then just IE users. I even see some of the post pop up on Fx and Opera on Linux. The scarey part on windows is that they can and often do look like a pop up from your AV program. It catches users off guard and they end up clicking a bunch of junk. I LOL when I see them on my PC using Linux.

[dragos240]

I probably won't fall for it. Seeing as there are probably few linux scareware products.

[hansdown]

All of the examples, I've come across try to convince me to download their "version" of protection, which is, in every case, an executable file.

I have checked a few, just for the laugh.

Unfortunately, some people who are near and dear to me automatically click anything that pops up.Since they use windows, the results are horrible for their computers.

Some of them are browser hi-jacks, so if you use firefox, you can report the site, by clicking help> report web forgery.

[CJ Master]

and i wholeheartedly agree with your last statement. it should be a fkn crime.

It is, especially since they scam you of your credit card information.

[Scarfnoogan]

I've fixed a boat-load of computers where people have clicked to remove those viruses and can hardly use the computer anymore....if you look after your family's windows boxes, do yourself a favor and get "malwarebytes" it's free and it will get rid of all that garbage.

it's the next best thing to switching OS's

[lykwydchykyn]

I actually it on one of these sites. I wasn't concerned about infection (since it was trying to download a windows executable), but it was still annoying. They had some javascript on the page to prevent you closing the tab/window, so I couldn't just close the page.

I killed firefox, but of course when I started it up again it kindly opened up all my tabs again with the sites I'd been on before killing it. Doh!

I had to tearaway the tab and kill firefox, which fortunately caused it to be unable to restore the previous session.

Anyway...

This seems to be the new de-facto standard in malware. I feel bad for people, really. I mean, what's it got to be like when you go on the internet and click the wrong thing, and suddenly you're going to have to take your machine to a shop or a guy like me and get dinged for $40-$??? to get it cleaned up? No wonder people are scared to do anything on their machines.