Security threats Toolkit

Latest Trojan is disguised as security warning

Dan Ilet ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 28 Apr 2005 18:00 BST

As the Infosecurity Europe exhibition wound down on Thursday, security experts warned that virus writers have been busy distributing bogus security programs on the Internet.

According to antivirus company Sophos, a Trojan horse dubbed 'fakespy' was sent to many unsuspecting email users as an attachment, and has been fooling some people into believing they have a security problem with their computer.

Once opened, the program displays a warning every 13 minutes claiming that the infected computer's Internet connection is insecure and is vulnerable to hackers. It then displays a link to a fake help Web site, which when clicked on, installs a number of other malicious programs.

"It doesn't fix security problems at all," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "It's just a dirty trick as it preys on people's fears."

Sophos said it had received few reports of the Trojan by Thursday afternoon.