Security experts nervously watching computers infested with the prolific Conficker computer worm say they have begun seeing infected hosts downloading additional software, including a new rogue anti-virus product. Since its debut late last year, the collection of hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of systems sick with Conficker has somewhat baffled security researchers, who are accustomed to seeing such massive networks being used for money-making criminal activities, such as relaying junk e-mail. Today, however, that mystery evaporated, as anti-virus companies reported seeing Conficker systems being updated with SpywareProtect2009, a so-called “scareware” product that uses fake security alerts to frighten consumers into paying for bogus computer security software. According to Kaspersky Labs, once the scareware is downloaded, the victim will see the usual warnings, “which naturally asks if you want to remove the threats it’s ‘detected’. Of course, this service comes at a price – $49.95.” Kaspersky reports that
Security experts nervously watching computers infested with the prolific Conficker computer worm say they have begun seeing infected hosts downloading additional software, including a new rogue anti-virus product. Since its debut late last year, the collection of hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of systems sick with Conficker has somewhat baffled security researchers, [...]
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