Recently at ThreeCherries we have noticed an increase in the number of machines infected with a Fake Av. In this post we take a look at what Fake AV is and how you can minimize the risk of infection.

Antivirus software has long been a part of computer security helping to protect a computer from vicious attacks. Fake antivirus software is any program that claims to be a beneficial program designed to detect or remove malware from a computer, but instead causes harm to the computer or the user. Once the Fake AV is downloaded onto the user's computer, the software will scare them into believing their system is infected with threats that do not really exist, and then push users to purchase services to clean up the non-existent threats. The Fake AV will continue to send these annoying and intrusive alerts until a payment is made

There are several ways in which fake anti-virus software can do damage:

•The program does nothing or does a poor job, leaving a computer unprotected and a person paying for nothing.

•The program disables real antivirus software programs or prevents itself from being removed by real antivirus programs.

•The program contains or really is malware itself, causing harm to the computer instead of helping it.

For example, a person may come across a Web site that has a flashing advertisement that reads, “Your computer is infected with a virus! Click here to download Scamco’s free virus removal tool!” A knowledgeable computer user knows that an advertisement can’t run a scan to determine if an individual computer has a virus or not. But for the person who falls for the trick, the trap is set.

The great threat of Fake AV is the risk to victims' personally identifiable information, which is extracted and exploited by the affiliate networks that publish this malware.

If you find yourself faced with a Fake Anti Virus then you can try running the following

Power off the machine by holding the power button on the tower unit for at least 5 seconds to power the machine off

Run a full scan using Trend Micro house call Trend Micro Housecall

Install Malwarebytes and run a full scan Malwarebytes

If all else fails log a call with one of our System Technicians who will be able to help in the removal of any threats.