Riding the Green Wave.

Considering how many people are talking about what is and is not good for the health of this planet and that everyone should be doing their part to help the environment, you shouldn't be surprised to hear that even cyber crime is going green.

Staying relevant and socially aware are key in effective malware propagation, so criminals are adding `green` gimmickry to their rogue AV sales pitch. The cyber criminals' have marketing departments too. Cyber criminals have re-branded their fake antivirus software so that it appeals to the environmentalists by having an "Environment care program. $2 from every sale we make will be sent on saving green forests in Amazonia." It seems they need to work on their English translations.

They also claim that when your computer has malware on it, your machine slows down, which means that it takes you longer to do things, and it uses more power. Using Green AV, they say, will clean and speed up your computer so that you don't need to go out and buy a new one! Wow, that is really nice of them, and for only $99USD !!! What a deal! I am saving the environment one piece of malware at a time.

Of the people that do end up downloading the software it does an unrequested fake scan and shows you bogus results that indicate that your machine is infected with a plethora of various trojans and does the opposite of what they say it will do, opening up a backdoor for them to have complete control of your machine.

It's humorous that they have a picture of a secure lock at the top of the page that says "Secure SLL Connection 100% Privacy Guarantee." I am unsure what an SLL connection is but I believe they mean SSL (Secure Socket Layer). 100% Privacy when giving your information to the criminals is also false security. I guess this is so other criminals can't get your information... real secure.

The criminal underworld has evolved over the years, offering various product improvements like bug testing, constant updates to avoid detection, and even Windows-like "send error report" pop-ups that send crash information back to the malware creator so they can improve on their faults. I hate to give credit to the enemy, but they seem to be doing a better job than most of the good guys that are trying to stop them.

That being said, you should be scared, or if you are too proud to be scared, you should at least be concerned. With detection rates as low as they are, the AV companies are being overwhelmed by over thirty thousand new pieces of malware a day.

A Finjan report from March estimated that fake antivirus distributors can make more than $10,000 a day. PandaLabs estimates there could be as many as 35 million computers infected per month with rogue antivirus programs.

Fake antivirus software is everywhere and this environmentally focused approach will likely be 'recycled' by other criminal proponents of its spread. Remember though, just because it says it's `green` it doesn't mean it is good for you.

B.Kilrea
Threat Analyst