Vista Antivirus 2012 is one of the numerous variations of the 2012 rogue, which has different names in accordance with the Windows OS used by the victim. By using malicious advertising and a variety of deception strategies, hackers manage to force through the so-called full version of Vista Antivirus 2012 despite the fact that it is completely bogus.
Presenting itself as a legitimate anti-virus application, Vista Antivirus 2012 uses the help of Trojans and fake online scanners in order to sneak into vulnerable computers. Online scanners that promote this rogue promise a free scan of the system and claim that it has been attacked by a number of viruses. Then, the scanners prompt the user to download a file, which is the Vista Antivirus 2012 infection.
Trojans, on the other hand, do not need the victim’s participation. They lie in hide in corrupted websites. When the user clicks through the website, the Trojans enter the targeted PC without the victim’s authorization or even knowledge. Once inside, they immediately invite Vista Antivirus 2012.
Figure 1. Vista Antivirus 2012
The malicious rogue employs a number of the usual for such scams techniques. At the beginning, it appears as a Windows security update, presumably coming from Automatic Updates. Then, it is installed as a single executable .exe file, which is very hard to remove. The file has a random, three-character name.
The first trick exploited by Vista Antivirus 2012 is bogus scanning. The villain pretends to be scanning the system for viruses, but this is a lie – it is not capable of detecting malware pieces because it is one itself. At the end of each scan, a phony list of infections is displayed. The viruses in it are in reality legitimate Windows files, which – if removed, can lead to system problems. However, the victim is prompted to purchase the full version of Vista Antivirus 2012 in order to get rid of the security problems. As a matter of fact, the only security problem is Vista Antivirus 2012 itself. Its full version is just as inefficient when it comes to removing viruses as the trial one.
Counterfeit alerts are the ones to try and convince the victim that the scans, performed by Vista Antivirus 2012 are reliable. The bogus notifications appear constantly and warn about non-existing security threats. You can see some examples of fake Vista Antivirus 2012 pop-ups below:
Malware Intrusion
Sensitive areas of your system were found to be under attack. Spy software attack or virus infection possible. Prevent further damage or your private data will get stolen. Run an anti-spyware scan now. Click here to start.
System Hijack!
System security threat was detected. Viruses and/or spyware may be damaging your system now. Prevent infection and data loss or stealing by running a free security scan.
Privacy threat!
Spyware intrusion detected. Your system is infected. System integrity is at risk. Private data can be stolen by third parties, including credit card details and passwords. Click here to perform a security repair.
Vista Antivirus 2012 Alert
Security Hole Detected!
A program is trying to exploit Windows security holes! Passwords and sensitive data may be stolen. Do you want to block this attack?
Vista Antivirus 2012 Firewall Alert
Vista Antivirus 2012 has blocked a program from accessing the internet
Internet Explorer is infected with Trojan-BNK.Win32.Keylogger.gen Private data can be stolen by third parties, including credit card details and passwords.
In addition to the rest of its mischief, Vista Antivirus 2012 blocks every possible application. When the user tries to launch a program, Vista Antivirus 2012 appears instead and claims that the program has been infected – a lie, of course, which aims at dissuading the victims from attempting to start their legitimate anti-virus vendors.
Furthermore, Vista Antivirus 2012 blocks FireFox or Internet Explorer – if the user tries to run them from the Start Menu, the rogue appears and states that they have been corrupted. Starting the browsers form another path is not going to trick the villain – it hijacks them and makes it impossible for the victim to view given security websites. The following warning appears in the place of the requested webpage:
Vista Antivirus 2012 Alert
Internet Explorer alert. Visiting this site may pose a security threat to your system!
Possible reasons include:
- Dangerous code found in this site’s pages which installed unwanted software into your system.
- Suspicious and potentially unsafe network activity detected.
- Spyware infections in your system
- Complaints from other users about this site.
- Port and system scans performed by the site being visited.Things you can do:
- Get a copy of Vista Security 2012 to safeguard your PC while surfing the web (RECOMMENDED)
- Run a spyware, virus and malware scan
- Continue surfing without any security measures (DANGEROUS)
In conclusion, Vista Antivirus 2012 is a great scam, invented by hackers in an attempt to gain profit by unsuspecting users. Do not let the rogue trick you – eliminate it immediately with the help of a legitimate anti-virus application!
*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.