Have you ever gotten a pop-up window that tells you that viruses have been detected, offers you a free scan and then, after giving you an impossible list of viruses, worms, Trojan horses, adware, spyware, and all manner of malware; tells you that by downloading the their anti-malware application for just $49.95, you can clean your system and save yourself the headaches of computer sluggishness and the scourge of identity theft? If you have—and you probably have—then you have been a target of scareware, which can be defined as a type of advertising-related malware that scares you into ordering a product you neither want nor need. Being a target is one thing, but you have to fall for the gag to be a victim.
Victims think they are going to get more protection than they already have—they don’t—and thereby maintain the health of their computer system. Again, they don’t. By offering their contact and credit card info, they open themselves up to the sort of id...
By Charles M Cooper ยท April 10 2009
small business, scareware, malware, computer virus
