* US shuts down 'scareware' sellers *

More than one million Americans have been caught out by a ruse peddling fake
security software, say US authorities.

Full story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/technology/7779223.stm

"...The companies behind the fake security software won customers via
adverts on many popular websites.

Anyone clicking on an advert was taken to the webpages run by the fake
security firms which then ran a "scan" looking for security problems.

The popularity of the rogue anti-virus and spyware products has rocketed
Yuval Ben-Itzhak, Finjan

Every scan found a host of security problems and urged visitors to buy
software to fix them. Typically the scans found evidence of viruses,
spyware and, in some cases, illegal pornography.

"However," said the FTC, "the scans were entirely false."

In its legal action the FTC targeted two firms: Innovative Marketing, Inc.
and ByteHosting Internet Services, LLC.

The fake security products the firms were peddling were: WinFixer,
WinAntivirus, DriveCleaner, ErrorSafe, and XP Antivirus. ..."