Protect Against Bogus Security Software

If I had a nickel for every time I've found myself attending to the malware-plagued computer of a friend or family member --it wouldn't be enough to retire on, but I'd sure have an awful lot of nickels. What strikes me about the infected systems I've encountered lately is how many (lots) had some form of fake, or "rogue," security software running on them.

Rogue security software is a program that pretends to be a legitimate security utility--usually an anti-virus or anti-spyware scanner--but really isn't. This type of software can worm its way onto your system behind the scenes without your knowledge, but as often as not its entree is aided and abetted by the actions of a well-intentioned user.