juliej's blog: "fubar technology"

Antivirus 2009 is the successor of the older Antivirus 2008 and is also a clone of System Antivirus 2008, Ultimate Antivirus 2008, Vista Antivirus 2008, XP Antivirus 2008 etc. It is basically a rogue anti-virus program that claims to be a real antivirus and also looks like a real one. It is propagated on the internet using trojan viruses such as Zlob or Vundo. A common spreading method also for Antivirus 2009 is through free ware software or pirated programs from peer to peer networks that are usually downloaded by many people. Visiting also non trusted websites (such as adult porn forums, warez download sites, peer to peer sites etc) is another major reason for getting infected with Antivirus 2009. This rogue antivirus program is categorized as "scareware" because it scares the user by poping up system messages which are fake and which claim that your computer is supposedly infected with several viruses and trojan scripts. Another fake activiry of Antivirus 2009 is to supposedly perform an antivirus scan and generate a false report. The report claims that Antivirus 2009 found numerous "threats" on the system and prompts the user to purchase the full version of the program in order to clean the infections. If you purchase the program, you just throw away your money because Antivirus 2009 is a virus by itself. Some of the effects of getting infected with Antivirus 2009 is that you will get frequent pop-up messages which will be threat warnings and also your computer will be slow. The messages that you get look like legitimate windows messages but they are not. Their intention is to scare the user to purchase the rogue antivirus. Your internet explorer browser might get also infected in order to redirect the user to malicious websites which promote the rogue Antivirus 2009. You can remove Antivirus 2009 either manually or automatically. Manual removal requires you to mess around with system files and registry entries. I would suggest to avoid manual removal and prefer automatic clean up. Manual removal necessitates that the user is expert with computers and has good knowledge with windows operating system. If you mess around with system windows files or registry entries you might cause more harm than good, so its better to avoid touching those areas unless you know what you are doing. In any case, the following link will help you learn How to Remove Antivirus 2009 manually. As a conclusion, downloading pirated cracked software, freeware programs, or visiting shady websites will most probably put you in big trouble regarding your computer's security. Cybercrime has been developed into a multimillion industry and the scammers involved in this are always pursuing to find new and innovative ways to steal money from innocent people. My recommendation is to have the proper weapons to defend your computer and your money. I would suggest to have both a trusted antivirus plus a trusted antispyware tool (as the one I suggest on the links above) if you want to successfully stand against cybercrime attacks like all those rogue programs that infect our systems.