Homely masks are becoming more common than invisibility cloaks in the world of cyber-crime, and from fake anti-virus software to malware warnings, we’ve now reached a stage when a malicious script is masquerading as a Microsoft Update. These are just a part of what experts like to call “social engineering tricks,” scareware preying by deception.
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Firefox users on Windows can be directed via a pop-up warning to a page that is the spitting image of the Microsoft Update page. What’s different, however, is that the particular Microsoft Update displayed requires the use of Internet Explorer. Unwary users can proceed to download some nasty stuff, if they decide to install the so called urgent update.
For now, the only safety is being a wary customer in the face of pop-up warnings and notifications. Do also check for security certificates displayed by your browser on secure, signed pages. With all this going around, we can’t help but feel the future of security is a bit bleak, and perhaps the combination of common sense and a good anti-virus package won’t be enough.
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