UPDATE 9/10/08:  The saga continues...Watch out for infection by this virus through ads, infected websites, false IE and Google Pages and .pdf files.  This is spread by trying to scare you into downloading it.  It is spread by a Trojan that when downloaded installs the malware.  This Malware downloads other nasty Trojans and fun things.

This malware takes some time to infect your machine.  At first the computer just starts running slow then eventually your machine starts popping up windows telling you that your computer is infected.  It looks real official and very Microsoft like.  It says it runs a scan and finds a bunch of infected files and asks you to click to buy the program and remove the infected files.  Under no circumstances should you click on it.  If you do you will make matters much worse.  If you do get infected.  Call a professional for help with this on it is a real bugger to remove!

Don't be afraid, just stay safe.  If in doubt, don't click on anything and download only from trusted sites.

There is a particularly nasty email scam afoot...Malware mascarding as a free anti-virus program.

You receive a spam email that offers you a six month trial of a new anti-virus program by the name of "Antivirus XP 2008" and "XP Antivirus 2009".

These rouge anti-virus programs are being spread through spam emial messages  The message contains a link to an automatic download of a phony anti-virus program.  When clicked, the automatic download delvers much more that you expected!

For an example of what the email looks like, the offending url's and the ISP that serves the malware vist the dozleng.com security update site .

How do you know what programs are safe?:

I recommend checking any new program at a site called Spyware Warrior.

They have been around since 2004 and keep a list of Rough/Supsect Antispyware products and websites. If you have any doubts, check it out here first, before clicking on any link or downloading anything!

They also provide a list of trustworthy adware anti-spyware removal software.

Verizon Business on the ICSA site also provides a list of "certified" anti-spyware products.

If you think you have downloaded a program that might contain malware you can scan the zip files here:

In a previous blog I listed  two site that will scan your downloaded files before you open and  install them here they are again.                                                                             

Jotti (Virus scanning sites on line) and

Virus Total. 

Safe Places to download programs: The software developers site (provided you know it is safe), or one of the sites listed below , they scan every item before offering it for download.

Cnet's downloads.com

PC World downloads

Tucow's downloads

ZDNet

MajorGeeks

Protect yourself - Practice Safe Surfing:  Watch out for hidden dangers - sites that contain 

• Hacked pages ( I visited a blog the other day and all the links to the downloads were hacked and pointed to god knows where whatch that address line!)
• Phishing and fraud scams 
• Malicious sites
• Exploits (WMF, VML, CreateText Range to name a few)- These allow hackers to spread rootkits and open your computer ports so that they can they can control your machine remotely (create a Zombi).

Just visiting a bad or hacked Web page can expose your computer to some very nasty things. 

Here are two programs that will help you practice safe surfing. 

LinkScanner Lite (is FREE) and they also have a Pro version which is not free.  They are programs that integrate into your browser to help you identify bad websites. This program's free version requires you to right clik on a site to get information about it.  The pro version delivers it automatically.

If you are lazy and cheap like me, you want a FREE add on like Finjan Secure Browsing.

I use is Finjan Secure Browsing ( FREE) every day for a long time and love it.  It can be used with either Firefox or Internet Explorer.  Just, download and install the program.  When you do a search the program scans and classifies the web addresses and gives you a safety rating of the stie before you visit them.  They place a green check mark next to safe sites, a brown ? mark next to sites they cannot scan and a red X next to sites that are unsafe. This program scans every site in your search every time. 

FREE - Download it for Firefox or Internet Explorer here.

Sources for this Blog:  Donna's Security Flash - Windows Secrets (paid version) and dozeling.com security updates

 Photo Credits:  "Horror" by Dawn Allayn, "Piranha sign"  by Viktors Kozersp and "Surfs Up" by Dan Shirley

Photos downloaded from: Stock.Xchng.com