----- Original Message -----
From: "Accessible Devices" <parker2...@accessible-devices.com>
To: "Accessible Devices List" <a...@accessible-devices.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 27, 2010 3:29 PM
Subject: [Accessible Devices] Beware Of Fake Microsoft Security
EssentialsSkam
This is all we have on this.
Microsoft Security Essentials is fake. Well, it is and it isn't. Microsoft
Security
Essentials is a free antimalware protection program from Microsoft, but a
identified
by security software vendor F-Secure is also masquerading as Microsoft
Security Essentials.
You want to avoid that one.
The is distributed through a drive-by download as either hotfix.exe or
mstsc.exe--both
reasonably benign and almost legitimate sounding file names that might not
raise
red flags with some users.
--including all of the top names that users are familiar with such as Trend
Micro,
McAfee, Panda, and Symantec-- and identifies those that are capable of
detecting
and blocking this nefarious threat.
The F-Secure blog explains, "Surprisingly, the only products that seem to be
capable
of handling the infection are AntiSpySafeguard, Major Defense Kit, Peak
Protection,
Pest Detector and Red Cross. Never heard of these? No wonder. They are all
fake products."
The attackers are counting on users being naïve enough to take the bait and
agree
to be "saved" by purchasing one of these awesome antimalware tools to help
eradicate
the threat. But, since these are all rogue antivirus programs what you
really end
up with is some sort of Trojan that opens the system up to further .
Don't get confused, though. As mentioned above, is a legitimate antimalware
application
as well. It is offered for free by Microsoft, and is in fact a very capable
defense
against malware. Microsoft just recently expanded the availability of
Microsoft Security
Essentials to --making it free to install on up to ten PCs.
I must say, though, that I have never understood how anyone falls for rogue
antivirus
attacks. It seems to me that users should know whether or not they have some
sort
of malware protection installed, and if so which software it is. If no
antimalware
is installed, or if the fake alert is apparently from a program other than
the one
that is installed--why would anyone take it seriously?
Did magic antimalware fairies stop by in the night and install this new
beneficent
tool? And, doesn't it seem at all suspicious that this strange antimalware
detection
is capable of scanning the PC and identifying this new threat, but invites
you to
purchase something else to actually deal with the problem?
F-Secure detects this new rogue Microsoft Security Essentials threat as
Trojan.Generic.KDV.47643.
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