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Panda Security’s weekly report on viruses and intruders
January 2010 by Panda
This week’s PandaLabs report looks at three new fake antiviruses.
LivePcCare is the first of these malicious programs. As usual with these malicious codes, first it carries out a fake scan of the infected user’s computer, and then claims the system is infected. It asks the user to purchase a license (of a fake antivirus) at a very attractive price to resolve this issue. If users purchase it, they will have paid for fraudulent software. This fake antivirus stands out because of the way it spreads, as it uses Black Hat SEO techniques, exploiting the launch of Google’s Nexus One phone and the Haiti earthquake. Thanks to these techniques, it manages to include malicious malware-downloading links in search engines’ top results.
DesktopDefender2010 also makes users believe their computers are infected and prompts users to purchase the product.
Finally, APcDefender uses the same techniques. It is a fake antivirus program that falsely informs users they have dangerous software on their computer. It tries to fool users by offering them its own anti-malware solution to solve the problems it claims to have detected, and invites them to purchase the software using their credit cards. This way, in addition to stealing users’ money, it also obtains their credit card details.
