Scareware
Scareware ( portmanteau word of English. Scare , scare 'and software ) is a malicious program , the computer user frighten and to so move on certain actions.
It is considered an automated form of social engineering .
functionality
Scareware is based on deception and fear . Therefore, an attempt is made to make the danger appear as threatening as possible and to make it so credible that it is not immediately recognized as an attempt at deception. The following tricks in particular are common:
- The provider of the supposed problem solution chooses the name and logo so that they can easily be confused with established companies and institutions. Trust in established brands or authorities is used to simulate seriousness to the victim or to disguise the actual origin of the software.
- Error messages from common applications or operating systems are mimicked. The user should believe that the warning comes from software that they have been using for a long time.
- Threats that were previously present in the media are picked up and presented as acute. Recognition enables those affected to believe in a real danger, even if the deception resembles the actual danger only in certain aspects.
Examples
- Scareware distributed as a free antivirus program reports numerous dangerous infections to the user, but they are not present. A cleaning of the computer is offered against payment. If the person concerned pays, the warnings are simply switched off.
- An advertisement or animation on a website leads the user to believe that their computer has been the victim of a hacking attack. The defense measure offered, however, is a Trojan horse that carries out the actual attack.
- Since 2010, more and more programs have appeared in German-speaking countries that suggest acting on behalf of the Federal Police, certain state police authorities or media law organizations such as GVU. For this purpose, the screen is blocked with a large display, which lists alleged legal violations (for example in the areas of child pornography or file sharing) by the user and prompts him to pay a fine. In fact, these programs have nothing to do with the organizations mentioned; Payment is made via anonymized procedures and flows to the fraudsters in this way. Often certain documents on the hard drive are then encrypted; due to the similarity to ransom extortion, this form is also known as ransomware .
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Daniel Bachfeld: Strong increase in dubious antivirus software , article on heise.de from October 28, 2008
- ^ Daniel Bachfeld: Charlatans and impostors - Doubtful anti-virus products Article on heise-Security from October 25, 2008
- ↑ http://www.redirect301.de/bundespolizei-trojaner-entfernen.html
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from July 28, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
