Prepare for the new upcoming 2010 AV products.

Many major security companies are about to release their new retail product for 2010. Expect some comparative reviews in the next months, check what you need and stay protected.

Some ‘2010’ products are already out on the web, but unfortunately most of them are FakeAlert Trojans or Scareware.

Once downloaded, you see pop up windows alerting you about a malware found on your machine and asking you to buy the product. The actual problem is the software you just executed.

We have been reporting about FakeAlert Trojans before – you may remember some products named:

- “Virus Remover 2007”
- “Win AntiSpyware 2008”
- “AntiVirus VIP”
- “AntiSpyware Pro2009”
- ”¦

To name just a few, but let’s look at this “2010” example:

Before you think about buying a new product or testing a trial version, you should:

- Use McAfee SiteAdvisor to get a rating of the page you’re looking at.
- Type the product name into your favorite search engine and have a look.
- Check comparative reviews – don’t believe in the awards posted on the page.
- Still unsure? Go to the next store and buy a box. There are no FakeAlert products available as box in a store. They sell online only.

If you are already running an AntiVirus product from a known vendor and you get annoyed by popups, bogus alerts or have a different issue, contact the Technical Support first.

Quote from the bottom of the screen:

According to security experts, most spyware types are not detected by antiviruses because they are disguised as legitimate software installed with the user’s consent.

Actually, ‘PC Antispyware 2010’ is a perfect example for such a “malicious software disguised as legitimate software”.

Of course, we and other major security companies do add detection for those Fake Alert products as Trojan.

McAfee SiteAdvisor rates this page as RED.
McAfee VirusScan detects the installer as Generic FakeAlert.d!gen
McAfee Secure Gateway detects Trojan.Dldr.FraudLo.sxm