Tag Archives: malware

Antivirus Malware and Software (Page 1 of 2)

Warning: most antivirus programs will not protect you against all forms of malignant software (often called “malware”) on their own. Find out how to protect yourself.

Sure, your antivirus software will protect you against viruses. It will probably even do a good job against worms. But what Trojans, exploits, backdoors, spyware and the dozen other nasty software parasites?

Malware and Antivirus Software: a History

The war on computer viruses has led to an arms race between the designers of antivirus software and the designers of viruses (you didn’t think viruses just created themselves did you?). Some years ago, virus designers responded to ever more successful antivirus software by creating the descendents of viruses, worms, which did not infect files but rather installed themselves directly on the hard drive, making them harder to detect.

The arms race has since led to a total of at least eleven distinct types of what is now called malware, a neologism meaning bad (as in malignant rather than shoddy) software. According to Wikipedia, these eleven types of malware are:

1. Virus 2. Worm 3. Wabbit 4. Trojan 5. Backdoor 6. Spyware 7. Exploit 8. Rootkit 9. Key Logger 10. Dialer 11. URL injection

There’s a twelfth kind of malware: adware, which Wikipedia considers simply to be a subset of spyware.

Why Antivirus Software Isn’t Enough for Malware

As you can see, makers of antivirus software have their work cut out for them if they’re going to keep every instance of malware off your system. As a result, antivirus software makers have often had to pick their battles. Adware, whose makers often claim they are doing nothing illegal or even questionable, often gets treated more lightly.

Even when antivirus software makers do come out with a product that fights all twelve or so kinds of malware, responding to each new instance of malware to come on the market isn’t easy. First the malware has to be identified, which means someone’s computer, and probably tens of thousands of computers, will be infected first. Then, the malware has to be dissected. Then a removal program and a filter must both be written. Then the removal program and filter must be tested to make sure they work, and that they don’t interfere with any other functions of the antivirus software or the computer itself. When a fix for the virus is out, it then has to be loaded into an antivirus software update and transmitted to every single computer worldwide that has the antivirus software installed.

The speed with which antivirus software makers are able to deliver updates for newly discovered malware would impress even Santa Claus. Yet there’s still a crucial window of one to a few days between when the new malware has reached a critical mass of thousands of computers, and when the update is released. If your antivirus software is not set to check for updates automatically every hour or so, that window opens even wider.

Current Computer Spyware Threats

Computer Spyware is a form of malware which will infect your computer without permission and can be used to steal your private information. Spyware has been used to log keystrokes made on your computer and send sensitive email and banking information to remotely located hackers, change your default home and search engine pages, and serve as a gateway for download of additional malware to your computer. The number of Spyware threats on the Internet increases daily! Spyware can come in many disguises to include adware, fake anti-spyware programs, and other legitimate files and applications. Five of the top Spyware Threats are: 1 – Fake XPA Trojan Virus, 2 – BaiduSadar 3 – Barracuda Spyware, 4 – GameVance, and 5 – HotBar.

Spyware Threat 1 – Win32/Fake XPA Trojan Virus

The FakeXPA iTrojan Virus also functions as Spyware once installed on your computer. It hides its real purpose of data mining, hacking your computer, spreading additional Malware, Spyware, and Adware. This FakeXPA is a kind of family of programs, which will claim to scan the system for malware and after scanning, it issues fake warning like malicious viruses and programs have been detected. This will tell the user to pay money in order to register for the software so that non-existent threats can be removed. FakeXPA may display a dialog that exactly mimics the Windows Security Center to trick unsuspecting computer users. Removal of Fake XPA is considered critical for your online safety.

Spyware Threat 2 – Barracuda Spyware
Barracuda Spyware is a fake anti-spyware program that tricks you into thinking your computer is infected. Barracuda will then attempt to convince you that its promoted product must be downloaded in order to remove the infection from your computer. Unfortunately, if you buy the product, the computer becomes even more infected! Other names for the Barracuda Spyware are: FakeAler-C, SpywareProtect2009, FakeAV-LS, Adware.SpywareProtect 2009, FaudPack.kho, Antivirus System Pro, Barracuda Antivirus, Security Central, and FakeSpyPro. Barracuda Spyware removal is critical in order to prevent continued malware download to your computer.

Spyware Threat 3 – Win32/BaiduSadar
Win32.Baidu Sobar is considered to be a browser modifier version of adware. It ill install a web browser toolbar on your Internet Browser and then deliver a significant number of pop-up advertisements and will change your default search engine page. Although by itself, BaiduSadar does not carry a malicious payload, the webpages that it forces you to surf to in place of Google, MSN, and Yahoo are capable of delivering a destructive payload to your computer. If infected with BaiduSadar, you should focus on Spyware removal.

Spyware Threat 4 – Win32/Hotbar
Adware Hotbar will display a toolbar and targeted pop-up ads on your computer based on your Internet surfing history. Hotbar’s toolbar will appear in both Internet and Windows Explorer on computers that run the Windows Operating System. When you click a button on the toolbar it will open a webpage that will open a different advertising website. The Hotbar malware will report your browsing history and other information to a remotely located server without permission. It should be removed upon detection.

Spyware Threat 5 – Game Vance – Adware
Game Vance Adware refers to advertisements that display ads on your computer and track usage in exchange for free game play at the Game Vance website. When you register for the Game Vance free game play service, one agrees to allow the ads run on their computer. After the End User Licensing Agreement is signed, however, you will have a significant number of advertisements displayed on your computer that can prove difficult to remove. If you have signed up for the Game Vance Adware, it should be removed since the program will send your private information without permission to a remotely located server.

Current Computer Spyware Threats

Computer Spyware is a form of malware which will infect your computer without permission and can be used to steal your private information. Spyware has been used to log keystrokes made on your computer and send sensitive email and banking information to remotely located hackers, change your default home and search engine pages, and serve as a gateway for download of additional malware to your computer. The number of Spyware threats on the Internet increases daily! Spyware can come in many disguises to include adware, fake anti-spyware programs, and other legitimate files and applications. Five of the top Spyware Threats are: 1 – Fake XPA Trojan Virus, 2 – BaiduSadar 3 – Barracuda Spyware, 4 – GameVance, and 5 – HotBar.

Spyware Threat 1 – Win32/Fake XPA Trojan Virus

The FakeXPA iTrojan Virus also functions as Spyware once installed on your computer. It hides its real purpose of data mining, hacking your computer, spreading additional Malware, Spyware, and Adware. This FakeXPA is a kind of family of programs, which will claim to scan the system for malware and after scanning, it issues fake warning like malicious viruses and programs have been detected. This will tell the user to pay money in order to register for the software so that non-existent threats can be removed. FakeXPA may display a dialog that exactly mimics the Windows Security Center to trick unsuspecting computer users. Removal of Fake XPA is considered critical for your online safety.

Spyware Threat 2 – Barracuda Spyware
Barracuda Spyware is a fake anti-spyware program that tricks you into thinking your computer is infected. Barracuda will then attempt to convince you that its promoted product must be downloaded in order to remove the infection from your computer. Unfortunately, if you buy the product, the computer becomes even more infected! Other names for the Barracuda Spyware are: FakeAler-C, SpywareProtect2009, FakeAV-LS, Adware.SpywareProtect 2009, FaudPack.kho, Antivirus System Pro, Barracuda Antivirus, Security Central, and FakeSpyPro. Barracuda Spyware removal is critical in order to prevent continued malware download to your computer.

Spyware Threat 3 – Win32/BaiduSadar
Win32.Baidu Sobar is considered to be a browser modifier version of adware. It ill install a web browser toolbar on your Internet Browser and then deliver a significant number of pop-up advertisements and will change your default search engine page. Although by itself, BaiduSadar does not carry a malicious payload, the webpages that it forces you to surf to in place of Google, MSN, and Yahoo are capable of delivering a destructive payload to your computer. If infected with BaiduSadar, you should focus on Spyware removal.

Spyware Threat 4 – Win32/Hotbar
Adware Hotbar will display a toolbar and targeted pop-up ads on your computer based on your Internet surfing history. Hotbar’s toolbar will appear in both Internet and Windows Explorer on computers that run the Windows Operating System. When you click a button on the toolbar it will open a webpage that will open a different advertising website. The Hotbar malware will report your browsing history and other information to a remotely located server without permission. It should be removed upon detection.

Spyware Threat 5 – Game Vance – Adware
Game Vance Adware refers to advertisements that display ads on your computer and track usage in exchange for free game play at the Game Vance website. When you register for the Game Vance free game play service, one agrees to allow the ads run on their computer. After the End User Licensing Agreement is signed, however, you will have a significant number of advertisements displayed on your computer that can prove difficult to remove. If you have signed up for the Game Vance Adware, it should be removed since the program will send your private information without permission to a remotely located server.