PandaLabs, the anti-malware laboratory at Panda Security –The Cloud Security Company–, has reported the recent appearance of a number of Web pages distributing the MySecurityEngine fake antivirus. All of these pages appear in top Web search results related to the 2010 South Africa Soccer World Cup.
According to Luis Corrons, Technical Director of PandaLabs, “The 2010 South Africa Soccer World Cup is a worldwide event that, only logically, hackers are taking advantage of. Over the last few days we have also noticed an increase in the number of malicious links that use the Roland Garros final, Rafael Nadal’s win or the NBA finals as bait. We advise users that use search engines to look for information regarding the World Cup to only access reliable websites and be careful when clicking links returned by search engines. We expect to see attacks like this increase over the next few days.”
These techniques, called Black Hat Seo attacks, started being used by hackers a couple of years ago. Since then, they have become increasingly sophisticated, managing to place rogue websites among the top’s search results in search engine listings. The system is very simple: when users look for information about major sports events such as this, the results returned correspond to rogue Web pages professionally indexed to rank high. If the user clicks the link, they will be asked to download a file, a codec for example. However, if they do so, they will be inadvertently installing a fake antivirus program on their computer.
We advise users to take all the necessary precautions when visiting Web pages through search engines. Make sure that sources are reliable and reject all downloads, as otherwise you could be infecting yourself. According to Corrons, “The best piece of advice is to use your common sense when surfing the Web. Reject requests from strangers and do not open any files that come from unfamiliar sources. Also, it is advisable to make sure you have the proper virus protection on your computer and that it is up to date. Currently there are free solutions like Panda Cloud Antivirus that protect computers against this type of threat.”
More information at PandaLabs Blog.
Panda Security specializes in the development of endpoint security products and is part of the WatchGuard portfolio of IT security solutions. Initially focused on the development of antivirus software, the company has since expanded its line of business to advanced cyber-security services with technology for preventing cyber-crime.
1 comment
I am a new user of PANDA Internet Security 2010.
This is to make know that last week my 2 laptops were infeced with a virus that attacks the ‘START’ button and changes the name to ‘MAGWAY FC’. WHat it did was that it changes the icons of the ‘All Programs’ and other icons to that of a blue and white football. Further to this a pop up window appears saying ‘you are low on disk space’. It further attacks and erases the folders in windows explorer.
The other thing is .. that there will be an audible ‘ting ting’ sound every 10 seconds.
I quickly formated my hard drive and loaded new windows into it. Using PANDA Internet Security 2010; i scanned all the files and thanks to PANDA, it managed to delete the virus/malware.
My computer is now running in perfect condition.
I checked in the internet with regards to this virus ‘MAGWAY FC’ and i guess that it might have originated from Burma where they have a football assocation with this name.
Thanks.
Henry McKenna Louis
Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia