Every computer/laptop user must have an antivirus program installed on his/her system. However, while trying to get such a program for your computer, what if you become a victim of a fake antivirus program? And, how can you distinguish between a legitimate antivirus and a fake one? In case you find out that there is a fake antivirus software installed on your computer, what should you do? In this article, we shall see the answers to all of the above questions. Most importantly, we will see how to avoid fake antivirus software. The Internet is used by all kinds of people, including fraudsters, hackers, and others who target vulnerable users. Such people make use of malicious tools, such as viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware, and other such malware to trick you into parting with essential data. A fake antivirus belongs to one of these malware types. These fake antivirus software are designed by some clever people, who pass them as legitimate antivirus software.If you accidentally download and install a fake antivirus program on your device, it will not detect and eliminate the harmful viruses on your system. And, the fake software will not stop with that. It will create havoc on your computer and lead to several other complications. Such programs always want a piece of your personal information. So, fake antivirus programs might result in fraud, identity theft, and other types of stealthy activities.Let us now see how to identify and then avoid fake antivirus software.
Differentiating Between Legitimate And A Fake Antivirus Program
A fake antivirus program will belong to one of these two types:
- A legitimate antivirus program that’s modified into a fake one.
- A program that’s designed from scratch to act as a fake one.
To avoid purchasing fake antivirus software, you need to get the software from a reputed and trusted company, such as McAfee, Kaspersky, Norton, etc. Also, you have to buy the software from a reputed outlet or the official website. Computer users might suddenly see an antivirus pop-up window on their screens, which would claim that their systems have been infected and so they need to take immediate action to get rid of it. Usually, the users would see a Click Here button or some similar methods that will ultimately result in installing the fake antivirus.Less tech-savvy people would easily be tricked into installing such fake antivirus on their systems. The fake antivirus program’s pop-up would not have appeared on your computer if you already have a legitimate antivirus installed on it.Users tend to click on the links in the fake pop-up window. This action will redirect them to some other malicious website. Otherwise, when people try to close that pop-up window, more pop-ups would appear. These pop-ups would lead the user to more issues, such as lock-ups, slow-downs, and compromised personal (especially financial) information.