KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar BluffInternet virus disguises itself as anti-virus software

Internet virus disguises itself as anti-virus software

By Christy Hendricks

The threat of a malicious Internet worm called Conficker had many people updating their anti-virus software.

While the potentially dangerous Conficker worm hasn't caused the damage as predicted, another virus could be causing you more problems.

It's called Windows Antivirus 2009 and it's very tricky.  It disguises itself as antivirus software, but it's actually a virus that could do major damage to your PC.

It hides in ads on websites that you may visit.

The owner of Computer 21 in Cape Girardeau says a lot of his customers have been tricked by the virus.

"If you're on a website that has that ad, you're going to notice that the screen goes blank in the background," said Andrew Bard, owner of Computer 12. "Little window pops up, says you've been infected with something, click ok to scan now.  If you click ok, you're done. Best thing you can do is cut the power."

Sounds scary, so how do you tell the real deal from the virus?

If it just pops up on your computer and you didn't click anything, then it's probably the virus. Like Bard said, don't click on anything.  Just cut the power.

To help protect against the virus you can download an anti-malware application. Windows provides some Antivirus 2009 removal instructions if you get bitten by the bug.