Antivirus Scareware Shows Up In Google For Skype

Well it's finally happened. The makers of the "Antivirus" strain of malware are now using Skype to to spread their crap.

Malicious links have been found on Google and Skype has joined the ranks of the malicious manipulated search results. Sean-Paul Correll, a security researcher a Panda Security, explains that under its latest guise, scareware scams appear as spam messages sent to personal Skype accounts.

The message appears to come from an account called "Online Notification" and claims to have discovered an "infection" on your computer. Once the link is clicked for "more information" the unsuspecting user is taken to a fake anti-virus scan which indicates the computer is infested with viruses and the program must be "purchased" to remove them.

Panda has detected one strain that completely disables applications on a compromised PC except the rogueware utility and IE. Once it's "purchased" the applications are re-enabled. Users that follow tainted search results on to a compromised website will be re-directed to the scareware.

Google has established a custom search page - www.anti-malvertising.com - designed to assist customers of ad networks to uncover possible attempts to distribute malware through advertising, a concern highlighted by the recent New York Times rogueware attack. Security researchers from the search engine have also become active participants in closed mailing lists discussing scareware and the wider cybercrime problem.