River Run Tech Blog: New Malware Released
Posted by David Taffet on Thu, Dec 09, 2010 @ 09:19 AM
In the last couple of years, we’ve seen the most active and persistent viruses coming out masked as anti-virus programs under names like Internet Security, AntiVirus Pro 2009, Anti Spyware 2010, etc. Apparently, users are getting wise to this ploy because we’ve seen a new variation on these malicious programs that attempt to extract money from you. The new variation claims to be a hard drive defragmentation and repair utility called “HDD Plus”. It is NOT a legitimate program!
If you see a popup for HDD Plus, whether it looks like the screen shot below, or not, do NOT click on anything within the popup window!
Manually power off your computer by holding in the power button for 6 seconds. If this new variant behaves like the earlier ones, powering off without clicking the window may let you ‘dodge the bullet’ and be free of the virus once you’re powered back on.
If, after powering off, waiting 30 seconds and powering back on, these popups recur, then please call River Run Support immediately. We can address this issue, either over the phone or in person, to get your workstation back in business as quickly as possible.
It is always best to KNOW YOUR SOFTWARE! If you know what antivirus program you have it’s a lot easier to recognize a false program popup. Likewise, if you know the legitimate software that runs on your system, you’ll immediately be suspicious of something like HDD Plus and whatever the next version of it calls itself, and won’t be suckered into clicking the window or buying the ‘program’.
Be aware and be safe!