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IDG News Service - In an effort to boost sales, sellers of a fake antivirus product knownas Live PC Care are offering their victims live technical support.
According to researchers at Symantec,once users have installed the program, they see a screen, falselyinforming them that their PC is infected with several types of malware.That's typical of this type of program. What's unusual, however, is thefact that the free trial version of Live PC Care includes a big yellow"online support" button.
Clicking on the button connects the victim with an agent, who will answer questions about the product via instant message.
Symantecsays the agent is no automated script, but in fact a live person. Thislends an "air of legitimacy" to the program, said Marc Fossi, a managerof development with Symantec Security Response. "Obviously if they'vegot live tech support, it must be real," he joked.
The techsupport doesn't help much, though. According to Symantec, the supportstaff simply try to convince victims to shell out between US$30 and$100 for the product.
This isn't the first time a fakesecurity product has been spotted offering tech support. Anothercompany called Innovative Marketing operated a call center to supportits security products, including a program called WinFixer. Accordingto security experts, Innovative Marketing's tech support techniciansacted in the same way as Live PC Care's, trying to reassure victimsthat they were buying a legitimate product.
These so-calledrogue antivirus products can sometimes lower security settings on avictim's computer. At best, they offer a false sense of securitybecause the products never protect computers from the latest securitythreats.
Rogue antivirus has been a major headache for usersover the past year. It is often installed via annoying pop-up ads thattry to convince the victim that something is wrong with their PC.Symantec tracked 43 million rogue AV installation attempts between July2008 and July 2009.
Crafty.
According to researchers at Symantec,once users have installed the program, they see a screen, falselyinforming them that their PC is infected with several types of malware.That's typical of this type of program. What's unusual, however, is thefact that the free trial version of Live PC Care includes a big yellow"online support" button.
Clicking on the button connects the victim with an agent, who will answer questions about the product via instant message.
Symantecsays the agent is no automated script, but in fact a live person. Thislends an "air of legitimacy" to the program, said Marc Fossi, a managerof development with Symantec Security Response. "Obviously if they'vegot live tech support, it must be real," he joked.
The techsupport doesn't help much, though. According to Symantec, the supportstaff simply try to convince victims to shell out between US$30 and$100 for the product.
This isn't the first time a fakesecurity product has been spotted offering tech support. Anothercompany called Innovative Marketing operated a call center to supportits security products, including a program called WinFixer. Accordingto security experts, Innovative Marketing's tech support techniciansacted in the same way as Live PC Care's, trying to reassure victimsthat they were buying a legitimate product.
These so-calledrogue antivirus products can sometimes lower security settings on avictim's computer. At best, they offer a false sense of securitybecause the products never protect computers from the latest securitythreats.
Rogue antivirus has been a major headache for usersover the past year. It is often installed via annoying pop-up ads thattry to convince the victim that something is wrong with their PC.Symantec tracked 43 million rogue AV installation attempts between July2008 and July 2009.
Crafty.
