Cuskey, Ipsen & McCall

Fake antivirus programs are a real problem for Windows based PCs. These insidious programs find their way onto computers mostly through web sites that are either malicious or have been hacked. Vulnerabilities in various web browsers are then exploited by the offending web site and a small program is installed onto your computer.

Common as this type of malware is, we thought it wise to raise the alert on this one in particular due to the fact that CIM often recommends and/or installs "Microsoft Security Essentials" on our customer's machines.

Given the similarity of names between the good "Microsoft Security Essentials" and the bad "Security Essentials 2011," we are concerned that people not be taken in by this new malware.

Please note that Microsoft Security Essentials is a free program offered directly from Microsoft. It does not cost any money. There is no "upgraded" version that costs money. In fact, any time a program pops up on your screen and tells you that your computer is infected, but can only be cleaned if you purchase the "full" version of the program, your computer has been infected with malware.

Never pay money for a program that you did not install and has suddenly appeared on your machine!

If one of these types of programs has gotten onto your machine, give us a call or stop by and we will gladly clean it off of your machine.