Scareware

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Scareware encompasses several classes of software. These are designed to cause one of: shock, anxiety, or threats, generally directed at an unsuspecting user. Some forms of spyware and adware also use scareware type tactics.

1 Shock-based Scareware
2 Anxiety-based Scareware
3 Alert-based Scareware
4 Spyware
5 Notes

[edit] Shock-based Scareware

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This class of scareware is designed to literally scare the user through the use of unanticipated shocking images, sounds or video. The first program of this type is generally credited to be "NightMare", a program distributed on the Fish Disks for the Amiga computer (Fish #448) in 1991. When NightMare is executed, it lies dormant for an extended (and random) period of time, finally changing the entire screen of the computer to an image of a skull while playing a horrifying shriek on the audio channels.

As scareware has evolved, new features designed to increase shock have been employed. A recent trend in scareware is for the application to masquerade as a game of concentration, such as navigating a maze; the effect of showing a horrifying picture and sound are amplified. Videos of such games and their effect on players can be found on popular video sites such as "YouTube".^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Anxiety-based Scareware

Anxiety-based scareware will put a user in situations where there is no positive outcome. For example, a small program that presents a dialog box saying "Erase everything on hard drive?" with two buttons, labeled "OK" and "OK". Regardless which button is chosen, nothing is destroyed other than the user's composure.

[edit] Alert-based Scareware

Scareware is also often used to describe software products, that while serving some desired purpose, also produce a lot of frivolous and alarming warnings or threat notices, most typically commercial firewall software. This class of program tries to increase its perceived value by bombarding the user with constant warning messages that do not increase its effectiveness in any way.

Some websites display pop-up advertisement windows or banners with text such as: "Your computer may be infected with harmful spyware programs. Immediate removal may be required. To scan, click 'Yes' below." These websites go as far as saying that a user's job, career, or marriage would be at risk. Products using advertisements such as these are often considered scareware.

[edit] Spyware

Some forms of spyware also qualify as scareware because they change the user's desktop background, install icons in the computer's system tray (under Windows), and generally make a nuisance of themselves, claiming that the user's computer is infected with some kind of spyware that the scareware application will help to remove. This tactic is not used by legitimate anti-spyware applications. Any application claiming to remove spyware that does this should be regarded as spyware in itself.

One example is SpySheriff^[1], a program that purports to remove spyware, but is actually a piece of spyware in itself, often accompanying SmitFraud infections.