Google ‘malware’ sponsored advert delivers fake anti-virus

“Be careful what you ask for – you might get it.”

That’s the thought running through my head today after I searched for the word “malware” on Google.

As you’ll see in the following short YouTube video I made, a sponsored link right at the top of the Google search results points to a fake anti-virus website posing as a legitimate security company:

If you download the fake anti-virus program promoted on the website you risk infection by malware identified by Sophos as Troj/FakeAV-AOV.

We’ve…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

Found this article interesting? Follow Graham Cluley on Twitter or Mastodon to read more of the exclusive content we post.

Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the anti-virus industry having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent security analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of computer security, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter at @gcluley, on Mastodon at @[email protected], or drop him an email.