Bitdefender S List Of The Top Three E Threats Menacing Computers In The Us In May-746

The top meanie of the month is Trojan,Clicker.CM, a popup-ad-serving trojan which is distributed via infected websites.

In order to successfully display the pop-ups containing advertisements, the trojan has functions to bypass the Norton Internet Security Pop-up Blocker.

In second place there's Trojan.Downloader.WMA.Wimad.N, which, despite the complicated-sounding name, actually serves a very simple function : to load another piece of malware. It does it by pretending to be a helper app that will download a "codec" to play a "special type" of WMA file. Once the user is tricked, it downloads and runs Adware.PlayMp3z.A, an application meant to take personal information from the clients computer and use it in marketing or suspicious practices. When executed, the adware even displays a pop-up with an EULA, in an attempt to convince users of its legitimacy.

In third place and proving once again that security is big business (if there was ever a need) there's a fake (or rogue) antivirus installer, which purports to install "XP antivirus". Once installed, XP antivirus claims to have found viruses on the victim's computer and demands money "for activation" to remove them.

"Adware is the word of the month, so to speak, and that because it makes money without posing so much (legal) risk. We may see more of these and similar threats in the months to come" commented Sorin Dudea for BitDefender.

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