Mimicking Microsoft

Microsoft reported a fake antivirus program, which imitates its free Microsoft Security Essentials software.

"One of the oldest tricks used by rogue antivirus products is to use a similar name as, or have a similar look and feel to, legitimate security software. It's been commonplace for them to mimic the Windows Security Center. So it was inevitable that the day would arrive when a rogue would masquerade as something similar to Microsoft Security Essentials", says a post on the company's Malware Protection Center (MMPC) blog. The malicious program is called "Security Essentials 2010".

As the article's author points out, the only surprise about the new fake antivirus disguise is that it took so long to appear. And it's rather odd that the imitation asks for money, whereas the original can be downloaded for free from Microsoft...

Source: Microsoft.