Rogue antivirus and antispyware programs are computer malware that is designed to trick the end user into thinking that their computer is infected with a significant amount of computer virurses and spyware. The rogue program does this by generating a number of fake or misleading infection messages on the computer and attempts to get the end user to purchase a commercial version of the software.
How Do Rogue Antivirus and Antispyware Programs Infect My Computer?
There are serveral ways that the designers of the rogue computer security programs get the software onto your computer. One of the common ways is through a Trojan virus downloader such as the Zlob Trojan which can infect your computer through known Internet Browser vulnerabilities or through infected multimedia files sent via email or on social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. The rogue software can also spread through the end user clicking on legitmate looking pop-up windows that are advertising legitimate software, or fake infections on your computer. In these cases, clicking on the ad will install the first wave of Spyware and the rogue antivirus program on your computer.
After you install the rogue software, it will start displaying fake infection messages on your computer…even if you have no other computer viruses other than the “scareware” that you have installed. The majority of the current rogue antivirus programs attempt to convince the end user to buy a paid version of the software. They also will attempt to do one or more of the following actions: Steal your private information to sell or reuse, install additional computer malware on your computer, significantly slow your computer, turn off Windows and Antivirus program updates, and hijack your computer’s web browser.
What Do Rogue Antivirus Programs Look Like?
A common thread for all rogue antivirus programs is that they attempt to mimic the look and feel of the Windows security update process and make use of the Microsoft brand or program names to build a false sense of trust in the end user. Two of the common rogue antivirus programs are XP Antivirus and Vista Antivirus that are pictured below.
Rogue antivirus programs such as the XP Antivirus and Vista Antivirus are tough to remove once your computer has been infected for a significant amount of time. Some steps to keep your computer safe are
- Turn on your computer’s default firewall if you have Windows XP SP 2 or newer. If you don’t, then buy a firewall and always run it.
- Keep automatic updates turned on for your computer’s operating system.
- Install and update a computer antivirus program on your computer. Norton Antivirus and Norton Internet Security are two popular commercial option sas well as Malwarebytes.
- Do not click links or pictures in email from people that you do not know.
- Do not exchange multimedia files on peer to peer file sharing websites. These are common areas for hackers to distribute infected multimedia files.
What to Do if You Are Infected by Rogue Antivirus Programs
Take the following actions if you believe your computer is infected with a rogue antivirus program:
1 – Conduct a complete antivirus scan of your computer’s local drives.
2 – If you conduct online banking or buy products, check the applicable accounts on a regular basis. You may want to consider reporting potential fraud to your bank or credit card company in order to minimize your financial loss.
3 – Update your computer’s operating system, Internet Browser, and ensure you leave real-time virus protection turned on for your computer security products. Many computer user’s who become infected with rogue antivirus programs are not running any antivirus or antispyware protection on their computer at the time of infection.





