Rogue software uses "obsessive compulsive disorder avatar"

Recently, a group of WeChat avatars that claim to "drive people with obsessive compulsive disorder to death in minutes" have become popular. In order to prank their friends, some netizens searched and downloaded various "obsessive compulsive disorder avatars" on the Internet. While netizens were having fun, some rogue software also mixed in with such avatar resources and took the opportunity to sneak into personal computers to do evil.

Netizen Xiaolian (pseudonym) told the reporter that in recent days, avatars with small red circles appeared in WeChat Moments. At first, she thought it was a new message. She clicked it, but there was no response, and then she realized that she had been deceived. Xiaolian heard that this avatar was called "obsessive-compulsive disorder avatar", so she also wanted to change her avatar to retaliate against her friend. Xiaolian went online and typed "obsessive-compulsive disorder avatar" and saw an installation package with "one-click download and one-click installation". She quickly downloaded several sets of new avatars. Just as Xiaolian was about to use these avatars, the computer became sluggish and did not obey at all. From time to time, vulgar advertising windows popped up, and she could not uninstall them. At this time, Xiaolian realized: "Oh no, I've been tricked!"

An antivirus software operator said that because some netizens have set their computers to "hide extensions for known file types," they are prone to mistake exe-format executable programs for jpg image files, and double-click to open the files, which will cause the Trojan virus to run and force the download of more than a dozen rogue promotional software to earn promotional fees from software manufacturers. Moreover, in order to increase the survival rate of promotional software, such Trojan promotional software also deliberately "castrates" the uninstall item.

Hui Zhibin, director of the Information Security Research Office of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the essence of this type of rogue software is a malicious advertising Trojan horse. At the very least, it will slow down the computer's operation speed, and at worst, it will threaten the victim's property and privacy security.

How to prevent such viruses? Hui Zhibin said that turning on the Trojan firewall can intercept various Trojan viruses in time. In addition, downloading network resources from regular websites and not randomly clicking on links and files sent by strangers can also reduce the risk of being infected.

If your computer has been accidentally attacked, you should first use professional security software to scan and kill Trojans, and then uninstall the rogue promotion software that was forcibly installed by the Trojans. If you find that some unnecessary software cannot be uninstalled (the Trojans have destroyed the uninstall items), you can visit the official website of the relevant software, download the official website installation package, install it over, and then uninstall it.

Generally speaking, when downloading files, be careful not to click on executable programs such as exe and script files such as bat, as both types of files carry great risks. However, when the reporter downloaded the "OCD avatar", he found that the hacker had disguised the file, for example, the file name was set to OCD001.jpg.exe, and the file icon used a thumbnail of the OCD avatar.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.