Trojan Posing As Microsoft Security Essentials Discovered

Security firm F-Secure has warned of a new type of malware spreading across the web, posing as a genuine download for a Microsoft Security Essentials anti-malware tool.

According to F-Secure, the malware is a Trojan file identified as Trojan.Generic.KDV.47643. The file is disguised in a hotfix.exe or mstsc.exe format.

Unsuspecting users download the malicious file thinking that they are installing a Microsoft update.

The file, once downloaded, appears as the Microsoft Security Essentials anti-malware tool. The fake tool then presents a genuine looking scan results page, informing the targets that their system is infected with malware.

The fake Microsoft Security Essentials tool then provides a list of all the prominent anti-virus software, like Symantec, Trend Micro and Panda, informing the users that the software are obsolete against the malware on the system.

It then advises users to download other anti-virus software like AntiSpySafeguard, Major Defense Kit, Peak Protection, Pest Detector, and Red Cros, which are all fake. When a user installs one of the fake anti-virus tool, attackers get the back-door entry to a victim's computer system.