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A very big frustration
to all users.
Be Careful of Rogue Anti Spyware Programs!
by chiaz
Spyware is one of the most serious problems on the
Internet today. It is estimated that an approximate 95% of the world's
PCs are infected by spyware. How accurate this is, I don't know. But no
one can doubt that spyware poses a serious threat to system
performance, system stability and user privacy.
When infected with spyware, users may experience a
general slowdown of the PC due to increased disk usage and CPU
activity. There may also be frequent crashes and BSODs (Blue Screen of
Death). Some spyware programs may track users. Internet browsing habits
and transmit the information back to their own servers. These spyware
applications may also display pop-up commercial advertisements, which
are likely to be intrusive and disruptive for the user. In other words,
spyware causes a myriad of problems for the typical user. It is also a
growing concern for corporations, where work efficiency may be
compromised by spyware.
Thus it is not exactly surprising that many companies
have come up with tools to detect and remove spyware applications. Many
of these anti-spyware programs may also offer real-time protection by
constantly monitoring and scanning all actions and blocking incoming
threats. Anti-spyware programs are usually the first thing users turn
to whenever they think their systems may have been compromised by
spyware. But are all of them to be trusted?
Recently, there has been a spate of rogue anti-spyware
programs spawning on the internet. Rogue anti-spyware programs, as
defined by anti-spyware expert Eric Howes, are products that simply do
not provide, reliable, anti-spyware protection or may be prone to
ridiculous false positives. Others may use unfair, deceptive, high
pressure sales tactics to scare up sales from gullible, confused users.
Rogue anti-spyware programs are, in other words, of unknown,
questionable, or dubious value as anti-spyware protection.
Let's use SpySheriff as a case study. According to its
website (spysheriff.com), SpySheriff is an award-winning spyware
removal utility will help you fighting all kinds of spyware and adware
including keyloggers, trojan horses, password thieves and on. With new
and unique protection module once cleaned your machine will not get
infected ever again. Do not wait, try now for free! SpySheriff is a new
and unique heuristics-based spyware removal software. It not only
cleans your PC but helps keeping it safe from future infections. With
its stunning security system your computer will never ever be a victim
of spyware. Try SpySheriff now to find out if you are infected. It's
easy and free for all!
Free sounds good doesn't it? It sure is a dependable
program, as we will see now (Sarcasm fully intended). When the user
installs and runs a scan with SpySheriff, it will produce several false
positives which mean that it will detect problems when there are none.
Note that all anti-spyware programs produce false positives but in this
case SpySheriff does it intentionally. These multiple false positives
frighten the user into purchasing the program to get rid of the spyware
detected. Which means as a matter of fact that SpySheriff is useless!
This is not all the goodies that SpySheriff has to
offer. SpySheriff is part of the Smitfraud trojan family, and places a
red icon in the system tray which shows a false warning that the
computer is infected with spyware. This warning is made to appear like
a typical Windows message.
SpySheriff (and the rest of the Smitfraud trojan family)
may also install other related rogue programs, as well as change your
homepage to that of its own. The success of SpySheriff in generating
revenue for these unscrupulous fraudsters has also spinned off other
similar clones such as Adware Sheriff, Pest Trap, SpywareNo,
SpywareQuake, SpyTropper, Brave Sentry, and many more.
In conclusion, these rogue anti-spyware programs are
well - rogue - and certainly cannot be trusted on protecting your PC
from spyware. In fact these rogue anti-spyware programs are spyware in
themselves. There are other free, trusted anti-spyware programs
available on the Internet. They include, but are not limited to:
Ad-Aware
AVG Anti-Spyware
Spybot Search and Destroy
SUPERAntiSpyware
Windows Defender
Do run these trusted anti-spyware programs regularly to
ensure that your PC is free from nastiness.
If you have been infected by SpySheriff or any other
rogue anti-spyware programs, no worries. ParasiteDB provides a
disinfection service.
http://parasitedb.com/removal.html
About the Author
The author is an enthusiast in computer security. He
volunteers as a helper in several forums to help others remove malware
off computers. He also runs http://parasitedb.com
a non-profit site that provides a database on the most prevalent
malware threats of today.
Be sure to keep the above url handy. |