Your Solution To Scareware

Been under the weather for a few days but I’m back in tip-top shape…

I’ve written a few posts on scareware recently. The folks at ZDNet have just come out with an in-depth look at scareware that goes into recognizing, avoiding and reporting scareware. They also include 57 photos of scareware examples.

This problem has grown much bigger than I originally thought. ZDNet, actually Ryan Naraine and Dancho Danchev of their Zero Day blog, say that scareware has “emerged as the single most profitable monetization strategy for cybercriminals”.

This is not just pop-up come-ons, but legitimate looking sales pages for anti-virus software.

The problem is that people who are susceptible to these scams don’t read ZDNet warnings about identifying the hazards.

Here’s your solution.

Buy a reputable security suite. We use ZoneAlarm. It doesn’t take over your computer. It does its job efficiently and, lo and behold, you can actually, manually, shut it down if you need to. The license covers three computers for a year. Renew it annually.

Symantec’s Internet Security Suite is supposedly improved over previous versions, which is when I gave up on them. I’ve never liked McAfee. There are others out there. Buy one. Install it on all of your computers. That’s it.

Now you won’t be tempted to buy something like ‘eAntiVirus Pro 2008’ or ‘Antivirus 2009 Protection’. Once you are familiar with your suite you won’t be tempted by pop-ups claiming to have scanned your computer and found malware.

If you are in business on the web, your business is through your computer. Spend the 60 bucks a year to keep it safe.