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Rank: Constant Gardener
Joined: 9/30/2009
Posts: 9,526
Location: Cakeland, United States
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http://www.geek.com/articles/chips/new-malware-accuses-victims-of-viewing-child-porn-and-shows-them-proof-2013021/A particularly nasty new bit of drive-by malware has been discovered trying to extort money from users in Germany by accusing them of viewing child pornography. It’s a horrendous scare tactic to employ, but it’s also one that seems like it could be incredibly effective in deceiving innocent surfers. When confronted with such a horrific accusation, there’s no doubt that some would move quickly to comply in whatever way they were told was necessary.
After all, who are they going to go to for help? The warning has been designed to look official and totally legitimate. And it’s not as though being anonymously accused of viewing underage porn on the web is a topic most are going to be comfortable discussing with… well, anyone. The lowlifes who foist malware upon unsuspecting Internet users aren’t stupid.
They know scare tactics work — and this is about as scary as it can get.
This isn’t a new approach to online extortion. Ransomware has been around for a long time, and it’s taken various forms. Another recently-reported piece of malware is taking things to a whole new level by encrypting victimized users’ files and holding them until ransom demands are met.
And sadly, this isn’t even the first time that child porn accusations have been used as a threat. Last year a similar campaign was also spotted in Germany. The warning page was slightly different, but the messages would have been every bit as terrifying to those who didn’t understand what was going on. This new round of attacks goes so far as to display a partial image of a child as “proof,” which some security researchers are saying is a first.
 The best thing you can do for your fellow,
next to rousing his conscience, is - not to give him things
to think about, but to wake things up that are in him...
to make him think things for himself - George MacDonald
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Rank: Lurker
Joined: 11/30/2006
Posts: 327,286
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It takes a special kind of asshole to do something like that.
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Rank: Active Ink Slinger
Joined: 8/24/2011
Posts: 42
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Thanks for the heads up on that. Perhaps you (or others here) could give the members some pointers as to the best anti-virus software to deal with malware like this. I use malwarebytes among others and for those that get through Rkill is good at getting rid of them
“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”
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Rank: Forum Guru
Joined: 10/17/2012
Posts: 501
Location: London, Canada
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Another Malwarebytes fan here. That plus a good A-V program (Avast and AVG are free, as is Microsoft's own Security Essentials which is apparently much improved over when I last tried it) should get you started. Basically, the AV takes cares of viruses and worms while Malwarebytes continues to excel at dealing with spyware and adware, which I find A-V packages are still rather weak on. If you use use Firefox, grabbing security and privacy add-ons like AdBlock Plus and NoScript helps, too, since they block potential infection vectors like pop-ups and banners. Not sure if there are counterparts for IE since I've largely moved off of that browser now.
Cathy discovers her husband's secret and reawakens old passions His Secret, Her New PassionA business trip becomes a voyage of exploration for two men A New SideNew Lush Stories from Seeker4
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Rank: Forum Guru
Joined: 1/7/2012
Posts: 818
Location: United Kingdom
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I use Kaspersky here and it's never let me down so far. I would recommend it to anyone looking for an all-in-one anti-virus/internet security. (It also deals with banking and securing your passwords and parental control if you get the full version)
Teased and Tormented -My very first story and competition entry is now up!
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