Over the past year, schemes to try to convince Internet users that their computer has a virus and needs a new security solution have killed 43 million people, according to data from Symantec.
The security company identified 250 different versions of this type of attack that has been active for months, without losing the ability to capture the attention of more users and accounted for the victims between June 2008 and June 2009.
The program that triggers an alert message on the user’s PC for the fact that the machine has a virus appears in the form of an advertisement between web pages. If the user follows the alert, they are redirected to a page where they can buy the alleged solution.
The scheme is fraudulent and those who buy it end up verifying that there is no antivirus, but it allows the author of each version to earn close to one hundred thousand euros a year in this way, according to the same numbers.
When installed inadvertently on the PC this type of adware tries to beat the user by fatigue, constantly displaying an alert message for detected security problems.
Editorial Note>: Corrected information on the annual value accumulated by each version of the false program.
