You may need antivirus software for your antivirus software…

February 11, 2011

You’re browsing along on the Internet, just like you do every night before you go to bed. You head over to your favorite news site, when suddenly something disturbing pops up:

“Wow! Windows detected viruses! Good ol’ Microsoft, always protecting me…” you think to yourself, and confidently click Remove All . Its bold and authoritarian letters will surely do the job. However, you’ve just unwittingly taken the first step down a slippery and potentially expensive slope.

Upon closer examination of the window, you notice a few items that strike you as odd:

What is “Windows Web Security?” I’ve never heard of that product.
The shield is yellow- I thought Microsoft Security Alerts are red.
The description has bad grammar and poor sentence structure. Why would Microsoft write something like that?

As you’ve probably already deduced, this isn’t a Windows Security window at all. It is actually the number one method of obtaining a virus today: Rogue Antivirus software, and once it’s installed, it may be very difficult to remove.

Rogue Antivirus software is a multi-million dollar industry, in the same way that credit card fraud is a multi-million dollar industry…neither are legit, but both are profitable. It’s also infuriating, because what is essentially happening is someone is holding your computer hostage, and wanting you to pay a ransom to get it back. Here’s a breakdown of the scam:

A hacker “injects” some code into a banner ad or a website that is designed to generate a pop-up window crafted to look like something Windows or your own antivirus software would display.
When you browse to the site and the code is activated, it will persistently keep displaying the pop-up window, hoping you will click the “Remove” or “Clean” button.
When you try to remove the bogus infections, you are usually prompted to install additional software. This is where the actual infection of your computer begins.
After the software is installed, those pop-up windows are now being generated on your computer. You’ll start seeing them no matter if you’re browsing or not. Often the software blocks access to site that can help you, such as Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, antivirus software sites, etc.
After being infected for a while, you will get a message saying something to the effect of “We can’t clean your computer…but for $49.95 you can get the FULL version of our software that will get you fixed up!”

The unsuspecting victim will then enter their credit card information, making them pay for the very software that is causing the infection (not to mention being open to credit card fraud). Many of these companies are being ran out of Russia and China, so they are beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement. The best thing you can do to protect yourself is preparation and education. Here’s some tips on how to avoid the scam all together:

Windows Updates! As a technician, I hear this everyday: “I have Windows Updates turned off. I don’t want anything being installed on my computer!” This is the WORST thing you can do. Microsoft products may be known for having their fair share of security issues, but they do tend to respond to threats quickly. Unless you’re going to take it upon yourself to read security news 24 hours a day and apply patches yourself as soon as they come out, you’re leaving yourself open to Rogue AV and other types of security problems. For home users, Windows Updates should always be turned on. For servers and workstations, your IT department needs to be vigilant with applying updates as they come out.
Read Before You Click! This is the easiest piece of advice I can give, but it generally goes unheeded. Anytime something pops up on your computer, make sure to read the content TWICE before clicking on a button. In the example above, you may have skimmed over the text, and everything seemed hunky-dory. However, reading it again revealed the mistakes and things that didn’t make sense. Don’t commit to anything on your computer unless you understand what the consequences will be.
Don’t Click! If you do go to a website and get a fake security window, do not click on any buttons inside the window. There is no telling what effect those buttons will have. Sometimes they even have confusing text: “Do wish to NOT cancel installing this software?” Click the red X to close the window. If you’re not able to close it, tap Alt-F4 on your keyboard repeatedly. This should close any open windows on your screen. If all else fails, simply reboot.
Real Antivirus Software! It’s amazing the number of people who don’t worry about running antivirus software until after they are infected. It is very difficult to remove a virus after the fact—kind of like putting locks on your doors after the burglar broke in. You will want to run decent antivirus software to protect yourself. Microsoft Security Essentials is a decent free program for the home user. Corporate users can consider monitored antivirus software, such as GFI’s Vipre . You should also have a specialized cleaning tool installed just in case something gets through. I’ve had great success with Malwarebytes and Spybot as backup protection- they don’t provide “active” protection, but they are able to target specific types of infections that normal AV software often misses.
Don’t believe it! Rogue AV pop-ups are getting more and more advanced. Some can even tell what type of antivirus software you are running, and specifically generate a window that mimics something your brand of software would generate. For instance, you may see something that says “ Norton detected the following… ” I’ve been recommending that people disregard ANY virus notices that pop up in the middle of the screen. If you see one, close it and run a scan yourself. It’s the only way to be sure.

Follow these tips and you can pretty much “spyware proof” your computer. Take all that money you’ve saved on repairs and buy yourself something nice, but please consider donating to the “Unemployed Repair Technician” fund. Since you’re no longer paying them, they’ll need to find a new way to put food on the table.

Newer Post >

New Business Broadband Plans!

By Mike Pawlecki • March 31, 2021

TOAST.net is excited to offer 4 new Business Broadband plans

New Fiber for Business Plans!

By Mike Pawlecki • March 11, 2021

TOAST.net is excited to announce 3 new Business Fiber Plans

New Residential Fiber Plans!

By Mike Pawlecki • January 12, 2021

TOAST.net has added two new residential Fiber Internet plans!

Switch to Universal Pricing

By Mike Pawlecki • August 14, 2020

This coming Monday, Aug. 17th, we will be switching to universal pricing -- one price for all DSL speeds (around $65) and one price for Fiber (around $90). So if anyone is thinking they could use one of our basic service plans, now's the time to order. For example: DSL - 12 Mbps for $43.95/month - Great for seniors on a fixed income. Plenty of speed for surfing the web, checking email, and streaming for 1 or 2 TVs. Fiber - 60 Mbps for $45.00/month - Awesome solution for just about any household. Note that fiber is a new technology and only about 20% of the country can get it. Check your address to see what service you qualify for and order by Sunday, 8/16/20! This is your last chance to lock in the speed and price of a great DSL or Fiber plan before they are grandfathered!

Google Meet

By Mike Pawlecki • May 20, 2020

Google Meet is now free for everyone. Check out TOAST.net's blog that tells you more about Google Meet usage at your home or office.

Work from Home (part 2)

By Mike Pawlecki • May 1, 2020

Google - Meet Meet is video conference software, similar to Zoom. To help businesses, schools, and people around the world navigate remote life, Google is making Meet free for everyone with availability rolling out over the coming weeks. See Google's blog post for details. SolarWinds - Take Control You may need to run applications off your PC or server at the office. In that case, SolarWinds makes makes an easy-to-use application that allows home users to remote desktop to their PC in the office. It's secure and doesn't require special hardware, a static IP, or VPN. We're offering this software free of charge for 90 days. Please contact us if interested.

Work from Home

By Mike Pawlecki • March 20, 2020

This week we've taken quite a few calls from companies asking how their employees and staff can work from home (WFH). We're happy to offer several WFH solutions to help organizations mitigate health risks to employees and customers. TOAST.net understands how important it is to keep your employees connected, productive, and safe during this unprecedented pandemic. Here are the services we have to help your business through this difficult time : Business Portal is a 'home page' for your browser that improves communication and efficiencies within your organization. It's a private Intranet that features company news, announcements, links to vendors and cloud apps, an employee schedule, and more! We offer this at no charge to our customers. Visit https://start.toast.net Google's G Suite - TOAST.net is an authorized reseller of G Suite, a cloud-based collaboration tool featuring Email, Calendar, Chat, Hangouts (video conferencing), and Drive. You can create files, documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with just your browser (no software to install) and share these with fellow workers, customers, and vendors. More info Remote Desktop - an easy-to-use application that allows home users to connect to PCs in the office. It's secure and doesn't require special hardware or a static IP. We're offering this free of charge for 90 days. High-speed Internet for Home - We provide residential Cable, DSL, and Fiber Internet service . So you can pay for your employee's Internet connection on your business invoice. Please contact us if you're interested in any of these services. B est wishes to everyone to stay healthy, safe, and upbeat as we socially distance ourselves for a quick end to this situation. Note: Our customer support team continues to work their regular hours. We operate support teams in multiple locations and, while there may be some disruption at certain locations for a limited time, overall we do not expect any significant change in access to support.

Cut The Cord With Unlimited Data

By TOAST.net Internet • January 28, 2019

In the month after Christmas, we’ve seen a high demand for our Internet service with unlimited data. Much of it is from people wanting to use their new streaming device (Fire Stick, Roku, Chromecast, Apple TV, etc.) to cancel their expensive cable TV service. This is commonly referred to as “cutting the cord.”

Fiber Expansion

By TOAST.net Internet • December 17, 2018

TOAST.net is pleased to announce fiber Internet service in 12 new metro areas:

Start Page Updates

By TOAST.net Internet • December 12, 2018

Moved Facebook link from top bar to the Popular Sites section. Added Yahoo Finance to the Personal Finance section. Yahoo Finance is one of the largest business news web sites in the United States by monthly traffic.