Antivirus XP 2008/2009 Malware Up the Ante

According to US-CERT, the cybercriminals who are foisting fake antivirus programs, such as Antivirus XP 2008 and 2009 off on innocent users, are now doing more than just ripping people off for the purchase price of their worthless programs–they’re going after personal and financial information. “If the user purchases the bogus software, the attacker may be able to obtain personal and credit card information for use in additional scams and fraudulent activity,” US-CERT reports. Their site has some recommendations on preventive measures to take.

US-CERT encourages users to perform the following preventative measures to help mitigate the risks:

• Install legitimate antivirus software from a trusted vendor, and keep its virus signature files up-to-date.
• Do not follow unsolicited web links found in email messages or instant messages.
• Use caution when visiting untrusted websites.
• Do not install untrusted software.

My bootable linux thumb drive virus scanner will remove this infection, but the best thing is not to get infected in first place.

Be careful out there.