In 2013 it is anticipated that there will be an increase in fake anti-virus scams, email scams and cyber scams. These scams offer to scan your computer with new anti-virus software and post fake numbers of infections on your computer to convince you to purchase and run anti-virus software which is in fact the infection itself. Other scams involve infecting and disabling your computer at a ransom or identity theft through email attachments that pull your contact information sending out emails to all of your addresses to infect them too.
1. The FBI Virus also known as the Dept. of Justice Virus or US cyber security virus locks computers preventing access until a ransom is paid to creators of the virus. They trick people into thinking they have committed a crime and owe a fine for the violation. There are similar viruses throughout the world with different names respective to local authorities.
2. Vista Anti-Virus 2013 overrides your computers operating system and reports that your computer is infected and prompts you to purchase the pro edition of their software to repair the infection. Vista Anti-Virus displays fake scan results, false security alerts and hi-jacks your web browser. When you try to remove the virus it will tell you that any software that you run is infected and prompt you to run the software to remove the fake viruses.
3. There is an increase in identity theft scams in 2013 as email addresses are increasingly made to look more legitimate. Avoid clicking on links and attachments from unsolicited emails and use caution when you don’t recognize email addresses.
4. XP Anti-virus 2013 deceives infected users for money. It will display a fake system scan showing you made up threats to worry you into purchasing their software. The virus is being spread through free download applications and spam email attachments.
5. Viruses are increasingly using Adobe Reader, Flash-player and Java to infect computers. Make sure you are installing updates to these programs as they often have security patches to combat the new viruses.
Older operating systems are more susceptible to external viruses due to their auto run feature making it easy to install software from external devices such as USBs and external hard drives. It is advisable to change the settings on your computer to prevent auto run and to scan all external devices for viruses prior to installing or using them.
Always purchase legitimate well known and paid for anti-virus software. While there are legitimate free anti-virus programs out there they are not as advanced as the paid ones in combating these new viruses.