FAKE NORTON ANTIVIRUS IS REALLY A TROJAN HORSE, WARNS SOPHOS

Hackers attempt to infect PCs of Googlers hunting for "free antivirus"

September 24, 2008 - IT security and control firm Sophos today warned internet users of downloading fake anti-virus products, following the discovery of a malicious Trojan horse that is posing as a free copy of Norton AntiVirus 2008. Google adverts are being presented to internet users who search for "free antivirus", leading them to a professional-looking website that claims to offer an anti-virus product for download.

The website attempts to lure visiting computer users into installing a Trojan horse, Troj/FakeAV-AD, which will then present fake security alerts and urge users to purchase a "full version" of the software.

Sophos has produced a video demonstrating the risk to internet users.

"After pornography, 'free antivirus' must be one of the most popular things that people search for on the internet. But dangerous adverts like this can make a poor security choice all too easy. There is areal problem with hackers using paid-for search engine adverts to bring traffic to their websites, with the ultimate aim of conning people out of money. Symantec, the makers of Norton AntiVirus, are unlikely to be amused by this abuse of their brandname - but that will be little comfort for the innocent people who fall for the trick and end up with an infected computer." - Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant, Sophos.

A video demonstrating the security issue, "Fake anti-virus software poses as Norton AntiVirus 08", is available for media and bloggers to link to or embed on their own websites.High-res version of video: http://www.viddler.com/explore/SophosLabs/videos/22/Lower-res version of video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYyx_UoaZ7E