Written by We recommend installing the Microsoft patch referenced in this article immediately. If your PC starts displaying popups and warnings that it is infected with hundreds of viruses, you should contact us immediately.
A sneaky computer worm that uses a virtual Swiss army knife of attack techniques has infected millions of Microsoft Windows PCs, and appears to be spreading at a fairly rapid pace, security experts warn.
Also, while infected PCs could be used for a variety of criminal purposes — from relaying spam to hosting scam Web sites — there are signs that this whole mess may be an attempt to further spread so-called “scareware,” which uses fake security alerts to frighten consumers into purchasing bogus computer security software.
So what diabolical plans does this worm have in store for host systems? Such a network certainly would make a very effective spamming machine for junk e-mail artists, but Damballa’s Royal said there are no signs that the infected systems are being used for spam. Rather, he said, it appears the worm and its subsequent variants may have been created for no other purpose than to generate income for people who get paid to install rogue anti-virus software, so-called “scareware” products like “AntivirusXP2009,” and “VirusRemover2009.”
