Interesting – it looks as though Google may be limiting the number of results in their hottrends search page to just 40 now from the 100 that they used to. I’m not very surprised really…. in the last few weeks I’ve been using the hottrends to see which rogue antivirus was the biggest pain in the neck of the moment, but in doing so I see many rogue sites that are using the hot trends to cash in on the traffic by serving up malware. At one point 6 of the top 10 sites in the results for one of the rogue applications were malware and I’ve seen malware served up from sites that weren’t computer related searches either. I’ve seen one person speculate that it’s based on search volume and they trim it to 40 when there are fewer searches being made. Maybe it is a temporary change.
Month: September 2009
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How to Remove SecuritySoldier | Security Soldier Removal
SecuritySoldier is the latest in the WiniGuard Family (SecurityFIghter, SaveArmor, SaveDefender are just the names that came out in the last week.) These busy bees have pretty much just renamed the program and files. It looks the same as each of the recent previous rogues. Just as those do it may install via trojans or web exploits and claim that you have security problems on your computer that it will then be able to fix if you pay for their software. All warnings are trumped up, i.e. not legitimate and it really doesn’t clean up anything. Read on for How to Remove SecuritySoldier.
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doublemyspeed.com Radio Ads
Sometimes you just can’t escape work. The other day on my way home an ad came on the radio for doublemyspeed.com It reminded me somewhat of the claims finallyfast.com (read my finallyfast.com removal). Anyway, I hadn’t heard of doublemyspeed so I thought I would check them out and see if it’s as much of a scam as it sounds. They suggest that you may not need to buy a new computer if yours is slow then proceed to give testimonials of people that installed their software and their pc ran so much faster than before.
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How to Remove SecurityTool | Security Tool Removal
Security Tool is the latest rogue antivirus application in the family which includes Total Security 2009 (read my how to remove Total Security 2009 guide if necessary.) It is visually similar and like many of these scareware rogues is very similar in many respects with the exception of the name. This particular rogue installs through web popups and trojans. Web popus will likely appear to be running a security scan of your computer and after the scan it insists you need to download and purchase SecurityTool to fix the problems it finds (how original!) Read on for Security Tool Removal:
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How to Remove SecurityFighter | Security Fighter Removal
SecurityFighter is making the rounds as yet another rogue security application. It installs itself via trojans and web popups and creates files that it then claims are viral and need to be cleaned out for your computer to be safe. Of course, they never can do that without you first paying for the program. This is the latest version of the WiniSoft malware family and resembles very closely the SaveDefender rogue application (see how to remove savedefender.) So, it’s no surprise that the SecurityFIghter Removal is very similar:
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How To Remove Alpha Antivirus (Removal Guide)
There is a new rogue among us. It appears that Alpha Antivirus has replaced Personal Antivirus as one of the latest rogue security programs. This particular rogue installs through online “scans” (popups.) The reason I say “scans” is they’re essentially animations of a scan (every one that visits the site will see the same thing even if you visit from a non windows OS which is somewhat amusing…) But, those details could certainly be changed. Who knows someday they may randomize their animations of scans and alter them to match other operating systems if they start to get fancy. Anyway, like many of the rogues that we’ve been covering their goal is to scare you into downloading and then paying for Alpha Antivirus by providing scan results that appear to indicate a security problem with your computer that only they can fix if you pay. In addition to this “fun”, Alpha Antivirus also drops a password stealing trojan. Those online banking passwords are more valuable than the fee for this software I suspect. Read on to see how to remove alpha antivirus.
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Facebook Chat Not Working | Voice Chat Coming to Facebook
It looks as though this evening facebook chat isn’t working. In fact FaceBook has confirmed all sorts of problems with it’s site and various applications. Chat apparently has been affected. Status updates for some people are disappearing and just general instability. (This may include not being able to log in to your account or errors accessing and viewing AND posting content.) In other words don’t expect things to “just work”. In other news…
It looks like facebook is getting ready to add voice chat.
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Remove SaveDefender | SaveDefender Removal
SaveDefender is somewhat related to SafetyKeeper in look and feel which mimics the look and feel of the Windows Security Center (which is legitimate.) Safetykeeper creates multiple files on your machine that it later scans and claims are infected with viruses, trojans or other malware. It then scans and claims that it cannot remove these files unless you pay for the software. It also pops up fake security notices from the Windows Taskbar. All of these activities are geared to separating you from your money and purchasing a license for this rogue application. Read on for how to Remove SaveDefender.
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Remove SafetyKeeper | SafetyKeeper Removal
SafetyKeeper is a rogue security application that installs via malware (trojans) and via trojan horse applications also displays security warning popups claiming that the system is infected with malware. (Files that it creates are cited as evidence of the malware infection.) It will also cite “infiltration alerts” or “security center alerts”. It spoofs the look and feel of the Windows Security Center (legitimate), except it is pushing the purchase of SafetyKeeper. Read on for instructions on how to Remove SafetyKeeper.
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Remove Proof Defender | Proof Defender Removal
Proof Defender is another rogue security application that acts and claims to be antispyware/antivirus, but in reality is nothing more than a scam to get your dollars for a program that raises red flags over imaginary viruses and claims to clean them. It’s related to the Perfect Defender 2009 family of rogue security software. This particular scanner is pushed through exploits via the web browser and popups that mimic the appearance that a scan is being performed. These popups then trick the user into believing a security issue exists on the PC and they should download and run the software to clean things up. (It claims it can only clean them up if you pay.) So, read on for instructions on how to remove proof defender.