Seminole, Florida - A Bay area computer expert says a new super virus is hitting hundreds of computers in Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota and Hillsborough Counties and more around the world.
The super virus, which has several variations, is a form of computer malware called "scareware."
"The purpose of it is to scare you into thinking there's a problem with your computer so that you pay to get rid of it," said Ryan Malize of Pinellas Computers.
The super virus starts with a pop-up window that warns of a fake virus and problems with startup failures and slowdowns if you don't remove the virus completely.
As soon as you click a button that says "remove all threats now," you're on the hook and the virus has begun to infect your computer. It automatically routes you to a credit card processing site, which asks you to pay anywhere between $59 and $99 to remove the so-called virus.
"Over the past couple months, I've seen an outbreak," Malize said. "In one day, I had an absurd amount of people coming in."
He added that the super virus has tripled the number of people coming to get their computer fixed at his shop, which is located on Park Boulevard in Seminole. And they all have the same virus, which is highly unusual considering there are millions of viruses out there.
What's causing it?
Malize isn't sure, but he thinks it has something to do with Facebook and other social networking sites.
He says most of his clients' computers were infected after they'd been to Facebook, and he thinks the likely culprit is all the random applications on the social networking site.
"Anyone can publish an app for Facebook or MySpace or one of those other sites," Malize said.
The best advice: Don't click on any Facebook apps.
Also, Malize suggests keeping your anti-virus protection current. Even software that's four hours out-of-date can leave your computer susceptible to this super virus, he says.
The best virus protection for at-home computers, Malize says, is AVG. He also suggests Norton, but only for larger businesses, i.e. networks with servers.
Malize thinks the super virus originated in the Middle East. And because it has several variations which are constantly being updated, he says it's become harder to fight. Internet Security 2011, Internet Security 2012 and Windows 7 are just some of the names Malize has seen used for this virus.
