'Security software' risk
Thursday, March 27, 2008
INTERNET users looking for security software should not download programs from unknown online sources, warns the German Federal Agency for Security in Information Technology in Bonn.
This is because cyber criminals have started distributing forged software to trick the very people trying to guard against them.
The criminals' goal, the security agency says, is to find their way to bank or credit card data.
To do so, the cyber-crooks place the forged software in prominent positions on search engines, promising to check your computer for vulnerabilities for free.
Anyone who installs and launches the program receives a warning that problems have indeed been found, but they can only be resolved by the commercially available full version of the program.
When trying to buy the software, the unwitting user then ends up revealing the very data that was supposed to be hidden.
The BSI therefore advises using only security software from "well-known IT firms".
DPA
This is because cyber criminals have started distributing forged software to trick the very people trying to guard against them.
The criminals' goal, the security agency says, is to find their way to bank or credit card data.
To do so, the cyber-crooks place the forged software in prominent positions on search engines, promising to check your computer for vulnerabilities for free.
Anyone who installs and launches the program receives a warning that problems have indeed been found, but they can only be resolved by the commercially available full version of the program.
When trying to buy the software, the unwitting user then ends up revealing the very data that was supposed to be hidden.
The BSI therefore advises using only security software from "well-known IT firms".
DPA
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