Virus alert: Google ads lure users to fake Norton download site

If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. So think twice if you are tempted to download a free copy of Norton Anti-Virus from the Internet.

Our sister site, AccountingWEB.co.uk [1] reports that Graham Cluley, senior security analyst with anti-virus company Sophos, recently raised the alarm in his blog about a Trojan virus that was being disseminated via a bogus Norton download site [2].

After searching on Google for "free antivirus," Cluley clicked on one of the sites featured in the Sponsored Links column of the search results. This link led him to a convincing spoof page that was swathed in yellow - the corporate color of Norton owner Symantec. But his attempt to download the "free" version of the anti-virus application was interrupted by his own anti-virus code's blocking the installation of the FakeAV-AD Trojan horse virus.

If you have a few spare moments, Cluley's video [3] of the exercise is engaging and instructive. Pausing to admire the Norton Anti-Virus packaging, which features a picture of a Hulk-like figure, Cluley quips, "It looks like Peter Norton has been working out."