Jul 27, 2010—Fake AV and TDSS – A Dangerous Duo

by DJ Goldsworthy, Information Security Manager

An excerpt from the July/2010 issue of the Gladiator newsletter, The Shield –

These days, surfing the Web can prove dangerous to your PC, as most of us know by having experienced, first-hand, the pain of getting a computer virus. Unfortunately, it is easier than ever before to contract a computer virus as malware writers now have stealth techniques to deliver malware without the user ever knowing it. To make matters worse, hackers are combining different malware to create dangerous hybrid duos that can completely take over any PC. One such combination that Gladiator has observed is Fake Anti-virus (AV) software and the TDSS Trojan.

Fake AV software is exactly what the name implies, an application that is made to look and feel like a real AV solution, but instead, can perform a number of other nefarious operations. There are many different versions, but most have the same end goal, which is to dupe the targeted user into thinking the Fake AV is the real deal, either through deception, or in some extreme cases, coercion. Some versions may create pop-ups with alerts claiming to detect many different bogus infections and other versions actually download malware. The Fake AV will then create messages informing the user that, for a price, an upgraded version of the Fake AV software could be purchased to get rid of the infections. Unfortunately, many versions of Fake AV have the ability to completely shut down legitimate AV software, leaving the PC completely unprotected. (continued)

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