When you encounter Micro Antivirus 2009, you need to run the other way.  With the Internet being such an essential part of everyone’s lives these days, Internet scams are everywhere.  These new programs such as Micro Antivirus 009 are rogue anti- spyware rograms that act as scanners and removers of malicious software (malware), but only serve a purpose of downloading their own malware onto your hard drive for their own profit.  With Micro Antivirus 2009, this program will actually download its Trojan horses through video codecs that are needed to watch certain movies online.  When you download the video codecs, you are also downloading the Trojan horses that will install Micro Antivirus 2009.  Once you are on your computer after this download has occurred, you will begin to be overwhelmed with fake security warnings from this program.  The program will try to convince you that you have malware on your computer that is going to do some serious damage.  Once you are convinced of this, then they will get you to purchase their full version which promises to remove the malware for you.  However, the program cannot and will not remove or find any actual malware.  It is all a ploy to make money off of you.The scam does not end here, unfortunately.  The program has the potential to record your key strokes, lifting your credit card information or any other potentially profitable information that they can steal from you.  The malware is not put on your computer just to mess up your hard drive.The recognizable signs of having malware on your computer are easy to detect.  Your computer will begin to slow down dramatically.  We all know how slow or fast our computer is normally; when you notice a sudden slow down of your computer, it is most likely because of all of the pop up ads that Micro Antivirus 009 is throwing at you.  Also, your homepage may change without your consent.  These are all signs that you can take notice of in order to protect your computer and your information from being sabotaged.Once you notice these signs, immediately contact an expert to get rid of this malware.  This is so important.  You do not want your computer to have a problem, and more importantly, you do not want your personal and confidential information to be mistreated by strangers.  You cannot just hit “uninstall” on your computer.  These malware programs hide in temporary files that name themselves to look like important parts of your computer’s operating system, so deleting the files one by one yourself may not even work.  Malware was not invented to merely slow down your computer.  It was invented to scam innocent computer users into making the mistake of downloading software and giving up access to their personal information for someone else’s profit.  So, fight back, find an expert to get rid of that malware for good!  And please, click responsibly.

There is a class of virus out there that is collectively known as fraudware.  There is a certain subset of these viruses hat can be collectively called “Windows Antivirus ��  There are several different names they go by, the latest of which is the Vista Antivirus.

As a family of viruses these are the most deceptive.  After realizing the “shortcomings” of such virus programs as SpySheriff, the programmers who develop fraudware decided to try a new angle.  The original idea was brilliant despite its intent.  Make people think they’re infected, point them to your p roduct, and make them spend money for your so-called “protection.”  Someone along the way realized that this idea could be taken further, so that more people could be tricked into this scam.  The scheme was simple:  Keep the general pathology of SpySheriff and its kin, since it worked so well, but cloak it in Windows imagery.  So was born the Windows Antivirus lass.

Of course, there were further innovations to the design.  The original virus was as easy to remove as its predecessors.  Refinements were made that eventually led the Windows Security Center itself to be tricked into believing it was a legitimate antivirus program.  Also, it was soon able to avoid detection by real Antivirus rograms.  Finally, innovations have been made in how the virus imbeds itself into a computer system.

Naturally, in trying to keep ahead of the manufacturers of legitimate antivirus programs, the virus programmers are constantly upgrading their viruses.  Not just settling for avoiding detection and imbedding upgrades, they try to stay ahead of the informed user by renaming their “products.”

So, how best to keep ahead of these people?  For one thing, a great idea is to have an Antivirus rogram that is as relentless in its upgrades as the viruses themselves.  Quite often, the problem with antivirus programs is that they don’t upgrade their virus definition vaults fast enough.  This leaves a window of exposure where any computer hooked to the net is a potential sitting duck.  Another great idea is for a program with this rapid upgrade speed to be able to tell the user if a webpage is unsafe, which is becoming a more frequent occurrence.

The last element for protection is knowledge.  The most common way for viruses to bypass Antivirus rotection is if the user downloads them.  They could do this by clicking on a hypertext link in an e-mail, on a webpage, or download an attachment from an e-mail.  This is never recommended, and sadly, even from people one trusts.  E-mail addresses can get hacked, Myspace accounts can get hijacked, and the list goes on.  Ultimately, the only safe bet is that if you asked someone for a link, you should copy and paste it in the address box before browsing it.  Never click on something unsolicited.

Armed with an effective Antivirus nd this kind of internet savvy, the internet can still be a fun, safe and enjoyable experience.  Just keep in mind that even though it’s only a virtual world in cyberspace, the personal threats are no less real.

Don’t be fooled–Real Antivirus is a scam. How it starts is you get flooded with intrusive, deceptive pop-ups telling you that your computer is infected and the only hope is to click the pop-up. You are scared that your computer may be harmed, so you click the pop-ups and go to the Real Antivirus also called RealAV) website where a fake scan runs and tells you that you are infected. Yes, I said fake scan. The files it lists as infecting your computer are not on your computer. If you do a search you will find they don’t exist, but most people are so alarmed at this point that they just want to get the infection off their computer without even checking if its real or not.After the scan you are pressured to pay $89.95 on a credit card for a full version of Real Antivirus. Many cave in at this point, falling for the scare tactics, and give their credit card information to get the infection off their computer. The problem is you are not giving your credit card information to a legitimate company–you are giving your credit card information to scammers. There is no telling how they will use your credit card information.Now that you have given your money to Real Antivirus you get the “program.” The program is really a bundle of spyware malware and adware. You still get pop-ups, your computer is being monitored for personal confidential information that will get sent to the original programmers of Real Antivirus, and your computer could be being used in denial-of-service attacks or for spamming others. Your computer will completely slow down because of all the background processes running on your computer, thanks to Real Antivirus Real Antivirus is also known to hijack your web browser. We’ve also seen this program before as a different name; Real Antivirus is a clone of Antivirus 2008.How did you get this infection in the first place? Maybe you opened up some spam and got it, or maybe you thought you were going to watch a video and got it since it likes to disguise itself as a ActiveX codec. Aside from spam, the most common place to find it is on porn sites, but that doesn’t mean that is the only place to find it. Creators of programs like Real Antivirus are always looking for more ways and places to spread their programs.So how do you remove Real Antivirus? I hate to tell you, but it is not easy. You have to do some research. As you learned with Real Antivirus not all programs that say they get rid of infections on your computer do so. Some, as you have learned, are infections themselves. That is why you have to do some research. The best place to start is to look for a program with awards. Some examples of legitimate awards are Tucows 5 Star Rating, Soft14.com’s 5 Stars, 5StarShare.com Editor’s Pick, Topshareware.com 5 Stars, and WUGNET’s Hall of Fame. If a program has any of these awards you can be assured you’re getting a legitimate program that has proven itself to work well. I mean, if you are going to spend money on something, don’t you want to be sure it not only works, but works well?

Have you heard of XP Police Antivirus It is a new rogue anti-spyware program designed to trick you in to spending your money. Even though you may have no spyware nstalled on your pc, this program will try to convince you otherwise. Through displayed ads, it will try to make you believe that your security is at risk and that you need to download the software. Avoid this, it is a total fake.

You see, XP Police Antivirus ants you to download their free software to clear up infections on your computer, even though there are probably none there to begin with. Once downloaded, they will alert you that the infections are so severe that you must purchase the licensed product in order for them to res tore your security. This is all a hoax, so don’t buy in to it. If you do, you are absolutely throwing your money away.

If you don’t understand spyware to begin with, here is a little explanation. This is software that gets placed on your pc, usually through other files you download such as weather, messenger alerts, freeware and online computer games. You probably don’t even realize that you have downloaded it, because it “piggy backs” on these other programs. When you get it, you will know it shortly.

When your computer becomes infected with spyware, you will notice many symptoms. Some of these include a slow computer, pop-up ads and changes in your browser. Since spyware spyware ctually follows and tracks your online searches, the ads you get will probably be related to your interests. This is how these malicious programs can display advertisements that are related to topics you have searched for, websites you have visited, etc.