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Conflicker goes phishing for credit card details with fake anti-virus software
14 Apr 2009 | 14.04 Europe/London
After Microsoft reported last week that fear of viruses is scaring casual Internet users into downloading fake security software, a new twist's emerged. Now the best known, Conflicker, is downloading fake anti-virus programmes onto computers it has infected.
Conflicker spreads through a hole in Windows-based operating systems, which Microsoft patched back in October. (Of the machines scanned last month by anti-virus makers Sophos, around ten per cent are still unpatched). It's unclear exactly how many machines are affected worldwide, but it's thought to be in the millions. According to research from IBM, nearly 60 per cent of all infected computers are in Asia.
The worm is now downloading a programme called Spyware Protect 2009, which tells you that your machine's infected and offers to clean it up for around $50 (roughly £34). And of course it is infected: with Conflicker itself. Experts are worried the repetitive nature of its warning messages will push people into shelling out for the software - even if just to shut them up. That'll mean putting their credit card details in the hands of thieves.
These developments support the arguments of those who believe the worm's main purpose is to make money - not disrupt computers and networks around the globe. This puts it in the category of Internet nuisances that Microsoft's calling "scareware." The ironic thing is that the Redmond giant says the media publicity around Conflicker is frightening people into downloading fake security software - and now the worm's cutting out the middleman and doing that itself.
Conflicker spreads through a hole in Windows-based operating systems, which Microsoft patched back in October. (Of the machines scanned last month by anti-virus makers Sophos, around ten per cent are still unpatched). It's unclear exactly how many machines are affected worldwide, but it's thought to be in the millions. According to research from IBM, nearly 60 per cent of all infected computers are in Asia.
The worm is now downloading a programme called Spyware Protect 2009, which tells you that your machine's infected and offers to clean it up for around $50 (roughly £34). And of course it is infected: with Conflicker itself. Experts are worried the repetitive nature of its warning messages will push people into shelling out for the software - even if just to shut them up. That'll mean putting their credit card details in the hands of thieves.
These developments support the arguments of those who believe the worm's main purpose is to make money - not disrupt computers and networks around the globe. This puts it in the category of Internet nuisances that Microsoft's calling "scareware." The ironic thing is that the Redmond giant says the media publicity around Conflicker is frightening people into downloading fake security software - and now the worm's cutting out the middleman and doing that itself.