History of XP Antivirus
XP Antivirus first become a problem in 2008 with a huge number of infections. By 2009 the problem had significantly diminished with some of the operators of the rogue program being caught. In 2010 there was been a resurgence of activity, however.
The Basics
XP Antivirus is a fake antivirus that first appeared in 2007 or 2008. It was made to look very similar to real antivirus programs in order to trick users into thinking that it was genuine. This type of program is also know as a "rogue security" program, "scareware," "malware," or hoax antivirus. The program was owned and operated by a company called Innovative Marketing Ukraine with connections in the Ukraine, Canada, and America. There were three key executives, a British man, a US citizen of Indian origin, and a Canadian named Marc D'Souza. On December 2, 2008 the FTC was able to issue a temporary restraining order against one of the company's web hosts. A US federal judge has since ordered Innovative Marketing and two individuals pay a $163 million judgment.
Statistics for XP Antivirus Strains
Based on search term volume from Google Trends, you can see the peaks and relative volume of searches related to this fake antivirus. Search volume roughly correlates to infected users, giving you a good glimpse of the volume of infections for these different variations from 2007-2010.
| XP Antivirus | |
| XP Antispyware | |
| XP Security | |
| XP Guardian | |
| XP Defender | |
| Vista Antivirus | |
| Vista Security | |
| Vista Guardian | |
| Vista Defender |
Known Name Variations
| "Antivirus" Names | ||
| Antivirus XP | Antivirus Vista | Antivirus Win 7 |
| Antivirus XP 2010 | Antivirus Vista 2010 | Antivirus Win 7 2010 |
| XP Antivirus Pro | Vista Antivirus Pro | Win 7 Antivirus Pro |
| "AntiSpyware" Names | ||
| AntiSpyware XP | AntiSpyware Vista | AntiSpyware Win 7 |
| AntiSpyware XP 2010 | AntiSpyware Vista 2010 | AntiSpyware Win 7 2010 |
| XP AntiSpyware 2010 | Vista AntiSpyware 2010 | Win 7 AntiSpyware 2010 |
| "Security" Names | ||
| Total XP Security | Total Vista Security | Total Win 7 Security |
| XP Security Tool | Vista Security Tool | Win 7 Security Tool |
| XP Security Tool 2010 | Vista Security Tool 2010 | Win 7 Security Tool 2010 |
| XP Smart Security | Vista Smart Security | Win 7 Smart Security |
| XP Smart Security 2010 | Vista Smart Security 2010 | Win 7 Smart Security 2010 |
| XP Security | Vista Security | Win 7 Security |
| XP Security 2010 | Vista Security 2010 | Win 7 Security 2010 |
| XP Internet Security | Vista Internet Security | Win 7 Internet Security |
| XP Internet Security 2010 | Vista Internet Security 2010 | Win 7 Internet Security 2010 |
| "Defender" Names | ||
| XP Defender | Vista Defender | Win 7 Defender |
| XP Defender Pro | Vista Defender Pro | Win 7 Defender Pro |
| "AntiMalware" Names | ||
| XP AntiMalware | Vista AntiMalware | Win 7 AntiMalware |
| XP AntiMalware 2010 | Vista AntiMalware 2010 | Win 7 AntiMalware 2010 |
| "Guardian" Names | ||
| XP Guardian | Vista Guardian | Win 7 Guardian |
Further Reading
Wikipedia Article on XP Antivirus (aka MS Antivirus)Reuters on Inovative Marketing Ukraine
New York Times on Banner Incident