Off late I have been actively blogging about Internet Security and Malware Removal. In my quest of hunting new malware, today I came across a new security software, which has been very aggressively being promoted by a lot of Internet Marketers, both newbies as well as seasoned, which have nothing to do with a security software. For instance, a quick search took me to a blogspot blog, which had just one post and was exclusively made to market Intelinet Smart Security.

Intelinet Smart Security – Quick Facts

This very aggressive promotion by lots of Internet Marketers made me a bit suspicious. When I dug a bit further, I found that they have two domains (intelinet-secure.com and intelinet-global.com) both hostical almost identical websites. This made me more suspicious.

Why you require two websites to impart the same imformation?

Further I noticed that their contact information in their domain information is related with netcom3.com domain email. If I recall correctly, they are the ones associated with lots of fake antispyware and antivirus comparison pages.

Yet another point of suspicion is that they have named their present version starting from 3.x, but I have never heard of them in the recent past. Have you? And if it is a new product, then why are you naming it as 3.x. This looks to me as a prank to make you beleive that it is an old and established product.

And the last point which almost convinced me is the list of the awards, claimed by them to be awarded to their security software. They tell us about the awards, but who gave them and for what, it is not at all mentioned on their website. I understand that they are all fake.

And if you are still not convinved, then go, take a look at their website.

But, I will definitely stay away from such a security software like Intelinet Smart Security. Internet Security is something lot more valuable.

Most of the online threats on your Internet Security start with an innocent looking email, inviting you to click on an important looking link. You click on the link, and the malware starts its dirty tricks.

It is highly important that you are able to quickly differentiate between good and bad. However, identification of the legitimate emails from phishing  / spam emails can sometime be very cumbersome, specially if you are receiving tens of mails, if not more.

Trend Micro™ eMail ID is a browser plug-in that helps you identify legitimate email messages in your inbox. It is from the reputed and trusted vendor Trend Micro, which develops many security software products. (Related: Trend Micro Discount Coupons).

Trend Micro™ eMail ID uses a two-step check to verify the authenticity of messages from hundreds of major companies, and then displays the result in the “from” area so that you’ll know what’s real. This helps you avoid opening and acting on phishing messages attempting to spoof real companies.

Trend Micro eMail ID is available as a beta download for evaluation and feedback.

Using Trend Micro™ eMail ID

TrendMicro™ eMail ID adds Truemark® icons to your email inbox and open messages to indicate legitimate messages from hundreds of major companies. It operates in a similar fashion across all webmail clients and Outlook Express, so you don’t have to learn a different interface as you check your email in different clients.

If you move your mouse over a Truemark icon, a certificate appears, showing you the results of the authentication and identity checks, and giving you more detail about the sender of the message.

Currently it is providing support to the following environments.

Email Programs

• Yahoo!® Mail
• Yahoo!® Mail Beta
• AT&T® Yahoo!® Mail
• MSN® Hotmail®
• AOL® webmail
• AIM® mail
• Windows LiveTM Hotmail
• GmailTM (standard and basic)
• Earthlink® web mail
• Microsoft® Outlook® Express 6.0

Operating System

• Microsoft™ Windows™ XP
• Windows™ 2000
• Windows Vista

Internet Security is something, which you cannot take lightly. Specially with the ever changing face of online threats, you just cannot rely upon  a single security tools to provide you an all round protection from Internet threats.

You may have invested in the best security tools, but still it is advisable to use a different resource for scanning your system to be doubly sure. In such situations, Online Internet Security services from reputed vendors are pf particular help. Many of these services are absolutely FREE and are a great security tool to strengthen your second level defense against all sorts of viruses, spyware, malware and other online threats.

Here we have compiled a list of one of the best online security tools. Have a look at them. Read the full story

When it comes to Internet Security, no single tool can be relied upon.

Online threats are constantly changing their patterns, signatures and behaviour. In such situation, it is always advisable to use an assortment of different security tools, both real-time as well as off-line, to strngthen your Internet Security and plug any security holes and vulnerabilities.

In our efforts to introduce you the the best Security Tools available, here we found yet another great software, which checks all vulnerabilities and infections in your system. Read the full story

You would have come across hundreds of emails which just announce that you had WON hundred million dollars in a lottery or someone in Nigeria had left 10 million pounds in inheritance to you or something like that.

These are all email scams and unfortunately many fall in these traps, just to loose your money, time and confidence in the end.

Till now scammers were using the subject fields or the main body of the email to announce that you have won the money. But many of the email clients have now updated their spam filters and most of these emails now find solace in your spam folder.

Seeing this trend, email scammers have now started using the “From” field for the big announcement. The reason being that the spam filters look for the spam and dubious keywords in the main body and the Subject field and the From filed often go pass through.

We have

got one such screenshot of such an email.

Watch out..

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In the last post, we have written about the a recent FTC action against a major vendor of Internet Security Software, which have pagued millions of PC users all over the world.

We have just found the chargesheet paper of FTC against the same vendor “Innovative Marketing”, which reports the practise used by these fraudsters to scam the Internet Users.

Click Here to read the original Report. Believe me, it is an interesting read.

Some of the excerpts from the report are given below.

DEFENDANTS’ (FRAUDSTERS’) BUSINESS PRACTICES

• The Defendants operate a massive, Internet-based scheme that tricks consumers into purchasing computer security software. Known in Internet parlance as “scareware,” Defendants’ software and the misleading Internet advertising used to promote it -exploits consumers’ legitimate concerns about Internet-based threats like spyware and viruses by issuing false security or privacy warnings to consumers for the sole purpose of selling software to fix the imagined problem.
• The Defendants’ scareware scheme relies on elaborate and technologically sophisticated Internet advertisements that Defendants place with advertising networks and many popular commercial websites. These exploitive ads display to consumers a “system scan” that invariably detects on consumers’ computers a host of malicious or otherwise dangerous files and programs, including viruses, spyware, or “illegal” pornography.
• Once the scan is complete, the Defendants urge consumers to download and install their software to resolve the security or privacy problems detected by the scanner. In many instances, consumers who agree to install the software are then presented with another scan initiated by the Defendants’ software.
• This second, software-based, scan repeats many of the same warnings from the initial scan and urges consumers to purchase the Defendants’ software at a cost of $39.95 or more to resolve the security or privacy issues found by the scanner.
• In reality, the scans displayed in the Defendants’ Internet advertisements and by the Defendants’ software are an elaborate ruse created to dupe consumers into purchasing the Defendants’ security software products. Although the Defendants go to great lengths to make the scans appear legitimate, no actual computer scans take place and the purported virus, spyware, or illegal pornography purportedly detected by the Defendants’ scanners does not exist on
  consumers’ computers.
• Unaware of the Defendants’ trickery, more than one million consumers have purchased the Defendants’ software products to cure their computers of the non-existent problems “detected” by the Defendants’ fake scans.
• Although some consumers later realize they have been defrauded by Defendants and attempt to seek refunds, Defendants routinely delay, obstruct and refuse to honor such requests.

Alex Eckelberry from Sunbelt has also conducted a mini-research, which discovered the hundreds of domains names and Ip addresses used by these scamsters to carry out their operations. He has been blogging about this episode lately here, here and here.

In this backdrop, when you read reports like Thieves Winning Online War from NY Times, these are really disturbing times for the overall Internet Security scenario.

In a major development against the spread of Rogue Security Software, FTC has started action against a dubious firm with the name "Innovative Marketing", which is understood to be behind the spread of several of the recent rogue Security Software.

These software had caused millions of computers infected with Scams like WinFixer, WinAntivirus, DriveCleaner, ErrorSafe, and XP Antivirus.

The move has also resulted in getting frozen the assets of those responsible for the scheme, to preserve the possibility of providing consumers with monetary redress.

Read the full story