Wall Street Journal: Beware of Scareware

Talia James — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 00:29:00 GMT

Wall Street Journal’s “Tech Europe” blog recently ran a story on scareware: a type of malware that frightens users into paying for bogus anti-virus software. Recently, researchers have noticed scareware rearing its ugly head in Firefox browsers and on Apple computers through a bad app call MacDefender.

This article details Websense breakdown of how the authors of scareware have becoming increasingly skilled at persuading people to buy the bogus or malicious programs.

“They’re forcing you to make an error of judgment” –Spencer Parker, Websense Group Product Manager

These developers implement three main mechanisms to force your error in judgment:

1) A big flashing warning symbol to incite the user.

2) Pressuring you to face a feeling of failure of self-regulation and doubt.

3) Reassurance of authority and control – the user thinks he has a remedied the issue, by electing to perchance the software granting the reward of a sense of control.

Using these tactics, scareware is largely successful at pressuring victims into revealing their credit card information. If you find yourself in a position where it looks like scareware is on your computer, just remember not to panic. You can check whether or not the advertised anti-virus company is legitimate by plugging their url into aceinsight.com, which will let you know if it is a legitimate site.

Remember, Mac users, you are not immune. Learn more about Mac Malware (scareware generated specifically for Mac users) in a video here.

BBC: Massive Cyber Attack Hits Huge Volume of Websites

Talia James — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 21:23:00 GMT

The BBC recently wrote an article covering the LizaMoon cyber attack, which has compromised a massive volume of websites. The scareware campaign works by redirecting victims to fake domains and prompting them to purchase phony antivirus software called the “Windows Stability Center.” Websense® is highlighted in the article for the analysis and tracking of the SQL injection attack since Websense Security Labs™ initially discovered it on March 29.

The majority of sites hit by Lizamoon are owned by smaller businesses, community groups and smaller organizations.

Attacks of this scale call attention to the importance of modern security measures for all organizations. Prepare yourself: make sure to check out AceInsight before you visit suspicious sites and learn how to prevent your organization from losing valuable data here.

Watch a video of Patrik interviewed by the BBC here.

Websense Media Coverage : Scareware

Wall Street Journal: Beware of Scareware

BBC: Massive Cyber Attack Hits Huge Volume of Websites