Rogue security software

Spyware (a portmanteau for spying software) is any malware that aims to gather information about a person or organization and send it to another entity in a way that harms the user by violating their privacy, endangering their device's security, or other means. This behavior may be present in other malware and in legitimate software. Websites may engage in spyware behaviors like web tracking. Hardware devices may also be affected.

form of malicious software and internet fraud that misleads users into believing there is a virus on their computer and aims to convince them to pay for a fake malware removal tool

SpySheriff (also known as BraveSentry 2.0, among other names) was malware that disguised itself as anti-spyware software created by Innovative Marketing Inc. or under alternate name Innovagest 2000. It attempted to mislead the user with false security alerts, threatening them into buying the program. Like other rogue antiviruses, after producing a list of false threats, it prompted the user to pay to remove them. The software was particularly difficult to remove, since it nested its components in System Restore folders, and also blocked some system management tools. However, SpySheriff could b

The Vundo Trojan (commonly known as Vundo, Virtumonde or Virtumondo, and sometimes referred to as MS Juan) is either a Trojan horse or a computer worm that is known to cause popups and advertising for rogue antispyware programs, and sporadically other misbehavior including performance degradation and denial of service with some websites including Google and Facebook. It also is used to deliver other malware to its host computers. Later versions include rootkits and ransomware.

Russian ISP openly engaged in criminal activities

WinFixer was a family of scareware rogue security programs developed by Winsoftware which claimed to repair computer system problems on Microsoft Windows computers if a user purchased the full version of the software. The software was mainly installed without the user's consent. McAfee claimed that "the primary function of the free version appears to be to alarm the user into paying for registration, at least partially based on false or erroneous detections." The program prompted the user to purchase a paid copy of the program.

thumb | right | 3wPlayer example 3wPlayer is malware that disguises itself as a Media player. It can infect computers running Microsoft Windows. It is designed to exploit users who download video files, instructing them to download and install the program in order to view the video. The 3wPlayer employs a form of social engineering to infect computers. Seemingly desirable video files, such as recent movies, are released via BitTorrent or other distribution channels. These files resemble conventional AVI files, but are engineered to display a message when played on most media player programs,

rogue security software