Microsoft Yanks Fake Security Software

Microsoft is claiming that during their last patch Tuesday, their Malicious Software Removal Tool, which is part of the download package, removed malware from computer systems. The software giant made claim to the fact that MSRT actually cleaned up some one million computers that had become victim to fake software.

In their press release they state that rogue malware programs were the target and that specifically targeted:

In a post to the company’s malware protection center blog on Wednesday, three of Microsoft’s security researchers spelled out the impact this month’s edition of the Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) has had on phony security software. In the period from Nov. 11 to Nov. 19, said Scott Wu, Scott Molenkamp and Hamish O’Dea, MSRT purged more than 994,000 machines of what the tool recognizes as “W32/FakeSecSen,” the malware label for a broad range of bogus security program with names such as “Advanced Antivirus,” “Spyware Preventer,” “Ultimate Antivirus 2008″ and “XPert Antivirus.”

Hopefully this will alert users to the hazard of downloading fake security software that not only hits their wallets, but also can cause harm to their systems. You may wish to pass this information on to friends, family and acquaintances that are not computer savvy.

Comments welcome.

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