Another fake anti-malware program is reported to be trying to sneak into users` computers. Data Restore is a new rogueware application that is targeting vulnerabilities in computers and wants to use them to gain access to more and more computers all over the world. Data Restore uses a tricky disguise to mislead unsuspecting PC users into thinking they are dealing with a reliable and legitimate AV tool. Data Restore imitates the actions and layout of a legitimate security application, but it is not aimed at protecting your PC. On the contrary, it wants to penetrate into the system without your knowledge and infect the computer.
Figure 1. Data Restore GUI
Data Restore is known to be a member of the FakeHDD family. As all the other members of this rogueware family, Data Restore is transferred to targeted computers in two ways. The first of them is through the use of compromised web pages that are able to find and then exploit vulnerabilities in programs that are running on targeted machines. This is done to transfer the infection to a computer without the knowledge of its user. Data Restore does not even need to ask for the approval of the PC owner to sneak into the system. Another way of spreading the infection is through the use of fake online scanners. The user is redirected to a malicious web page that promoted some unknown system scanner. The user is offered to scan his PC system using this scanner. The final results of the scan are scary – they prove that there are many compromised files on the scanned computer. The user will be told that he has to download some file to fix the numerous problems. However, he will not be notified that together with the file Data Restore will be also downloaded to his PC and will be able to start its malicious and deceitful plan.
Once Data Restore has entered into your computer, it will create many compromised files. They will be hidden in some location of your PC, and later they will be reported as malicious infections. Data Restore will be configured to start on system start up. Then it will start showing many pop-up messages. The annoying warnings will tell you about serious system errors and problems. They will let you know that unless you fix the machine, it will probably crash, and you may lose all the information stored on it. The messages will show the following information:
Critical Error
Hard drive clusters are partly damaged. Segment load failure.
Hard Drive Failure
The system has detected a problem with one or more installed IDE / SATA hard disks. It is recommended that you restart the system.
Critical Error
Hard drive critical error. Run a system diagnostic utility to check your hard disk drive for errors. Windows can’t find hard disk space. Hard drive error.
System Error
An error occurred while reading system files. Run a system diagnostic utility to check your hard disk drive for errors.
Moreover, Data Restore will make a scan of your system. Its results will show many infected files and the fake tool will say that you need to remove these compromised files as soon as you can. Otherwise, there may be crucial consequences. Data Restore will not allow you to delete the files manually. It will tell you that you can do that only after paying for the full version of Data Restore.
The truth is that the warnings that are displayed are fake, and the scan detects the same files Data Restore has created itself. As you can see, Data Restore is a scam tool, and it cannot provide any security services. It is aimed at taking your money, and it will not give you anything in return. If you become a victim of Data Restore, remove the bogus software as soon as you can, and do not submit personal or financial information to it.
*SpyHunter’s free scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware suite to remove the malware threats.