Vista Defender is another rogue antivirus program that is clearly programmed by the same authors as the rest of the Braviax family malware. Even though it might seem very legitimate and convince many, it is nothing more than a virus. Although a full version of Vista Defender promises to cure your computer from any infections, one should not believe its statements. As many other fake antivirus, it does not have any malware database and is not capable of identifying infections.

Using Trojan horses, Vista Defender infiltrates itself into the system and makes changes crucial for its functioning. First of all it makes sure the existing computer security programs do not detect it as harmful. After that it sets up the processes so that every time an infected computer is turned on, Vista Defender runs automatically. A person having this rogue antivirus will start seeing tons of alerts and warnings that aim to convince you about system damage and many infections. This is the most common method scammers use to trick people money. They put all their effort in trying to scare an infected computer owner that something is very wrong. At the same time they try not to raise any suspiciousness that one is facing a scam. Yet you should always consider several points:

• Is your computer being scanned by a program you purchased or installed purposely?
• Are the actions this software performs initiated by you or permission is asked before doing anything?
• Do you know where this program came from?

If you answered “No” to all of these questions, you are clearly facing a rogue antivirus. Do not pay anything it asks. It only wants your money and your credit card information. All of the messages it shows are not true. Once you determined that your computer is infected with a fake antivirus, remove Vista Defender as soon as you can. Remember that it might be blocking your computer security programs therefore leaving it harmful to even more infections.

FBI Anti Piracy Warning is one more version of ransomware that uses Federal Bureau of Investigation name and logo for criminal purposes. Even though there are many this type of viruses programmed and probably you have at least one acquaintance that had to deal with it, people still fall for this scam. There are two main reasons why scammers get their money: part of their victims truly believes they breached the laws and pay the fine, others might pay because they think it will be easier to fix a computer this way rather than take it to a specialist.

Let’s have a more detailed look at FBI Anti Piracy Warning virus. As soon as it infects a computer, it blocks the screen by showing a window with the message:

FBI Anti-Piracy Warning
All activity of this computer has been recorded.
If you use a webcam, videos and pictures were saved for future identifications.
Your Computer has been locked!
Illegal downloaded material (MP3′s, Movies or Software) has been located on your computer.
Unlock your computer:
To unlock your computer and yo avoid other legal consequences you are obligated to pay a fine of $400. Payment of the fine is done by GreenDot MoneyPak payment voucher. After payment is made your computer will be unlocked and legal actions will not be taken.
Failure to comply with FBI Anti-Piracy warnings could result in criminal charges and possible imprisonment up to 3 years in country jail.

If your computer has a webcam installed, you will see it turned on and your picture included in the message to strengthen the feeling of fear. The text says that any video and photo data will be used for your identification.

There is no need to tell that you should not pay the money. First of all FBI Anti Piracy Warning is a scam and has nothing to do with such governmental institutions like FBI itself. Secondly, paying the money will not remove infection. Even though one needs to know several tricks in order to remove FBI Anti Piracy Warning, there are reputable antimalware tools and instructions available on the Internet. For the future note that none of governmental/official institutions collect payments using prepaid payment systems (like Ukash). If you see this type of fine payment, it is a clear sign of a scam.

Search.us.com is a browser hijacker that can be installed to any of Internet browsers, e.g. Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome. It can affect one browser but usually it changes settings of all the browsers installed on computer. After the toolbar is added you will see that your home page and search page are changed to search.us.com or start.search.us.com.

Toolbar developers state that it enables to get search results from all leading search engines and get what a person looks for faster. This browser extension is supposed to compare all of results, decide which are most relevant and eliminate duplicates. The truth is that the links displayed are mixed with advertisements and you never know if you see what you looked for or what is being promoted. Those that read Terms of Use carefully will not be surprised seeing ads:

You also understand and agree that the Search.us.com Services may include advertisements and that these advertisements are necessary for Search.us.com to provide the Search.us.com Services.

One can get search.us.com toolbar from its official website but most often people do not know how they got it until they see home page and search page changed to unwanted websites. Usually applications like this one are distributed bundled with other programs. You might download a movie or install a piece of software and end up with redirections to search.us.com or start.search.us.com.

It is particularly difficult to remove search.us.com. Some computer users say that it keeps coming back even after deleting it from add-ons and Control Panel Add and Remove Programs list. Resetting home page to anything else is known not to help as well. Most of antivirus programs are not capable of detecting or completely removing infection. We recommend using special tools capable of dealing with adware and browser hijackers, for example, Spyhunter removes search.us.com and all its instances automatically. For those who choose to use a manual removal option, it is strongly advised to scan computer afterwards with more than one antimalware tool in order to ensure no infections are left.

If when you open your web browser, instead of a usual home page or your favorite search engine you see home.sweetim.com or search.sweetpacks.com, SweetPacks is to blame for this. This company has developed such browser extensions like Ginger, GamePacks, SweetIM, VideoConverter and other. These enable a computer user enhance Internet browsing experience by adding emotions, letting play computer games for free, correcting spelling and grammar mistakes and offering other useful features. Alas, nothing is truly for free.

SweetPacks get its money from advertisements and traffic to the sites promoted. This is where we come to redirections. As soon as you install any of SweetPacks browser extensions, your original Internet settings will be replaced with a new home page and search engine, usually home.sweetim.com or search.sweetpacks.com. Moreover you might get such adware like DealPly and PriceGong as extra applications and be flooded with pop-up and in-text advertisements.

SweetPacks plug-ins can be installed from its official website but most commonly they come bundled with other software. This is an unfair but legal way of adware distribution. When a computer user chooses to install a program automatically and does not read carefully all the small print, she does not notice a checkbox marked by default that additional applications will be installed.

As easy it is to obtain SweetPacks redirections, that hard it is to get rid of them. Any company that earns money from sources like advertisements and traffic, is motivated to have as many users and for as long as possible. Therefore SweetPacks toolbars usually do not have uninstall wizards or these are incomplete and do not eliminate the changes made. Many computer users complain that they cannot even locate the toolbar in Control Panel Add and Remove Programs list or among browser extensions. Moreover, antivirus programs they have usually do not detect any problem. The easiest and least time consuming way of removing annoying SweetPacks ads and redirections is to use special tools like Spyhunter. This particular tool is known to be effective with many adware and can remove it together with all unwanted changes automatically. If you choose to save your money and try removing the adware manually, it is strongly recommended to perform a full system scan afterwards because it might have been injected using malware.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is nothing more than a virus that belongs to the group of infections called Ransomware. The name for it came from the feature characteristic to all of this type infection. It demands for a ransom in order to remove the problems it causes. Although there is a lot of talking going on about computer attacks like this one, people still fall for this scam and give away their money to cyber criminals. The amounts are not that small, e.g. DOJ virus asks for a ransom of 300 USD. Let’s have a more detailed look at this infection and the methods it uses to swindle peoples’ money away.

Cyber criminals use sophisticated methods for spreading The Department of Justice virus. No wonder that the same computer might get infected with it more than once. The most common nowadays way of injecting this ransomware is via corrupted websites. These do not necessary have to be of a suspicious origin, like sex sites. Scammers use such web pages like job search or similar.

As soon as DOJ virus gets inside the system, it blocks an infected computer’s screen completely. The only thing a person sees is a message:

YOUR COMPUTER HAS BEEN BLOCKED
The work of your computer has been suspended on the grounds of the violation of the law of the United States of America.
Article 274 – Copyright
A fine or imprisonment for the term of up to 4 years. (The use or sharing of copyrighted files-movies, software)
…..
Amount of the fine is $300. Payment must be made within 24 hours after the discovery of the violation. If the fine has not been paid, you will become the subject of criminal prosecution.

To strengthen the effect of the message cyber criminals use The United States Department of Justice name and logo and even a countdown timer, a bogus case number and FBI agent name. If you have never seen a ransomware before, you may easily get convinced that the message is true and pay the money. You may do it out of fear, especially if your computer has a webcam installed because this virus is programmed to turn it on and show your picture. It also has a note that any video and photo material will be used for your as a criminal’s identification.

Alas paying the fine will not fix an infected computer. The only reliable way to remove the Department of Justice (DOJ) virus is by using legitimate tools and instructions available in reputable sources. For the future note, if you are asked to pay money using prepaid payment system and this is supposed to be for a governmental/official institution, it is a clear sign of scam.

Win 7 Defender is a well thought of scheme for swindling naïve computer users’ money for useless purchase. It is designed to look legitimate with a well thought of graphic user interface and special functions that should motivate a computer user to buy a full version of the program. Those who had never seen such type of rogue can get tricked quite easily. Cyber criminals work hard to make you believe your computer is seriously damaged and needs urgent help.

This is how Win 7 Defender works. As soon as this fake antivirus gets inside a computer, it makes certain changes to your system which enables it to be launched whenever a computer is turned on. You will see that your computer is being scanned by some antivirus program. The name of it – Win 7 Defender – sounds legitimate and might even seem familiar but this only one of the tricks the program uses for creating a feeling that you should trust it. After a scan is completed, you will see notices and alerts similar to this one:

Action Center
Review recent messages and resolve problems
Action Center has detected one or more issues for you to review.
Security
Virus protection (Important)
Win 7 Defender 2013 reports that it is turned off
Turn on now
Turn off message about virus protection

No wonder that an infected computer user gets worried seeing warnings informing that computer is badly damaged, especially if these keep reappearing. Buying a full version of Win 7 Defender might seem a wise and easy solution to the problem. All one needs to do is to click on the link, enter credit card details and the problems will be fixed. This is exactly what cyber criminals hope you will do.

No need to tell, this will not eliminate the infection. First of all the alerts displayed are fake, the scan process is only an imitation, moreover a full version of the program is useless because it does not have any database and cannot detect or remove any viruses. One should trust only in reputable Win 7 Defender removal tools. Also note that there are more fake antivirus versions and they all share the same features. None of legitimate programs start a computer scan without asking for a computer user’s permission.

Scour virus is a browser hijacker that changes your default search provider and redirects your search results to scour.com. It can be added as a toolbar to any of Internet browsers: Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer or Opera. The search engine is supposed to deliver the most relevant results as efficiently as possible but the truth is that these results are blended with paid advertisements which makes it difficult to distinguish between them.

Scour virus might be installed intentionally via company’s official website but the most common way of getting this annoying toolbar is after downloading other software. Scour redirect comes bundled with it. It is a legal way of distributing adware and a computer user can blame no one else but herself. Usually when installing such software, additional applications are marked to be installed by default. If one chooses an automatic installation and does not take off a checkbox, she ends up with irritating changes to her browser.

It is particularly difficult to remove Scour virus because it does not have a usual uninstall guide. Most likely you will not locate it in your Control Panel Add and Remove Programs list or among browser extensions. Uninstalling and reinstalling an affected browser might not help as well. Most of anti-malware and anti-virus programs do not detect or even if they identify the file, its removal needs some manual changes to be made. Fortunately there are automatic tools available to remove Scour virus. If you choose to uninstall the toolbar manually, do not forget to scan your computer with several tools afterwards to ensure that no other infections are left.

“Browse to Save“ is an annoying adware that is being cursed by many for pop-up and in text advertisements that do not let you work with your computer normally. If it saves anything it is definitely not your nerves. Ads and coupons might be also shown as underlined keywords. If you click on these, you will be shown an advertisement that states it has been displayed by “Browse to Save”. It is not recommended to click on any links in advertisements because these might take you to malicious websites that have even more serious viruses.

In many instances “Browse to Save“ toolbar is distributed using unfair ways such as bundling it with other software. A computer user chooses an automatic installation process and ends up with unwanted programs. It is not strange that this adware is being infected to PCs so aggressively. Cyber criminals that are behind it get paid from toolbar’s developers for every new user. Whenever installing anything, read carefully what is marked by default and remove checkboxes having suspicious programs to be installed.

A manual removal of “Browse to Save“ is possible only if you can see it in Control Panel Add and Remove Programs list. Otherwise you may try to uninstall and reinstall affected Internet browser but this does not always help. Please, note that not all of anti-malware tools are capable of detecting and removing this thread. The easiest and quickest way to remove “Browse to Save“ is by using automatic removal software. In a case of a manual removal it is strongly recommended to scan your computer system for any infections that could have been a cause of adware infiltration.

Win Server Defender is the name for yet another fake antivirus that is quite similar to Windows 8 Security System or Windows Ultra Antivirus. It usually infects computer having Windows operating system. It has a professional looking graphic interface design which leaves an impression of legitimate software. Not surprisingly many victims of this scam get tricked and spend money on purchasing a useless full version of the tool.

Win Server Defender can get inside your machine via security holes and system vulnerabilities. It becomes especially easy to distribute malware like this one using sophisticated exploit kits via corrupted websites. One might get infected even after navigating through ordinary web pages that were always safe to browse if these got affected by malware.

The first symptom of infection is a computer scan started out of nowhere. As a rule of thumb, this new software called Win Server Defender finds many infections. It may even imitate some of the problems in your computer, such as make programs disappear or display warning messages instead of Start Menu. An example of alerts you may see is:

Win Server Defender Firewall Alert
Iexplore.exe is infected with Banker.Deus. Private data can be stolen by third parties, including credit card details and passwords.

Other texts might have messages like this one:

System Security Alert!
Vulnerabilities found
Background scan for security breaches has been finished. Serious problems have been detected. Safeguard your system against exploits, malware and viruses right now by activating Proactive Defence.

System Security Alert!
Unknown program is scanning your system registry right now! Identify the theft detected!

There is no need to say that Win Server Defender is a scam and none of its messages are true. Alas this does not mean your computer is not at risk. Having a fake antivirus in the system is not only annoying because of constant pop-up alerts and automatic scans but it also means that there is a vulnerability via which more infections can be injected. Therefore it is recommended to remove Win 7 Server Defender as soon as its first signs of activity are noticed. Spyware Doctor is a toolbar that can be used for infection’s automatic removal. It is recommended to repeat a scan after the malicious files are deleted in order to ensure no other threats are left.

Vista Defender 2013 is one more present given to us by cyber criminals. Wrapped in a well thought of design it is nothing more than a rogue antivirus that wants to lighten your wallet. Just like many other fake antivirus it can be distributed using Trojan Horses. As the name itself says, Vista Defender was made for computers having Windows Vista operating system.

It is impossible to notice that a system is infected because fake antivirus starts its work as soon as it gets infiltrated into a machine. You will see that your computer is being scanned by a new antivirus that you did not have before. After a scan is completed, you will see its summary and warnings similar to this one:

Malware Intrusion
Sensitive areas of your system were found to be under attack. Spy software attack or virus infection possible. Prevent further damage or your private data will get stolen. Run an anti-spyware scan now. Click here to start.

It is easy to get tricked for those who had never dealt with fake antivirus before and get worried about a computer being seriously damaged. Remember, if you see a computer scan started without any of your intervention, especially when the tool is not familiar to you, it is a clear sign of a scam. Vista Defender 2013 asks to purchase its full version for any of the infections found to be removed. Do not spend your money. A complete version is worth nothing. It does not have any virus database and cannot detect or remove any system damage. Moreover, the viruses found are made up. The real problem your computer has is a rogue antivirus itself. You should be concerned only with it and how to remove Vista Defender 2013.

To avoid similar cyber criminals presents in the future, do not download anything from not trusted sources, try not to press on advertisements while browsing the Internet and always have your computer security as well as operating system updated.