Rogue Antivirus Software

Mike Smith
Network Engineer

What is it and what should I do about it?

You’re sitting at home, surfing the Internet and alert messages keep popping up. There’s a big yellow triangle that exclaims “Your computer is infected with 97 viruses”. It looks quite ominous and even provides a link to a site selling antivirus software. What is going on here? This is an example of a type of malware called “Rogue Antivirus software”.

Rogue Antivirus software installs itself without your consent and will generate warnings and alerts telling you that your computer has viruses, spyware, adware, backdoors, or any number of other undesirable conditions. There will be a link somewhere that will take you to a website where you can buy software that claims that it will address the situation. Sadly, it’s their own software that has infected your computer and they are the ones trying to sell you more software to remove it.

Rather than buying their software and rewarding them for infecting your computer, it is probably a better idea to uninstall the rogue software from your computer. Unfortunately rogue antivirus software usually doesn’t go away very easily. It frequently disables your existing antivirus software and adds corrupted system restore points so that it can reinstall itself in the event that it is removed. There are however, special tools which can be used to remove this type of software once it has been identified. Due to the potential harm that could be caused to your system if not done properly, removal should be done by someone who has experience removing malware.

How can you avoid Rogue Antivirus software?

• Use Antivirus protection, and keep it updated. New threats surface daily, and they are constantly evolving. Hundreds of viruses are discovered each month. To make sure that you are protected against the newest breed of threats, update your anti-virus software frequently.
• Watch what you download! When you're online, you might get a message asking if you want to download a special search engine or other seemingly helpful program, or change your home page. If you are uncertain of the program’s reputability, do not download it!
• Keep your computer updated. Go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com to download any updates your computer needs.
• Beware of Freeware. The Internet is full of free software, and most of it is great.  However, some Freeware comes with adware or spyware attached.
• Do not open e-mail attachments from an unknown, suspicious, or untrustworthy source. If you're not familiar with the sender, do not open, download, or execute any files or e-mail attachments.
• Exercise caution when downloading files from the Internet. Make sure that the Web site is legitimate and reputable. Verify that an anti-virus program has checked the files on the download site. If you have any doubts, don't download the file at all.