Beware of Online Music Threats at SXSW 2011

SXSW, the annual music, film, and interactive conference and festival is taking place in Austin, TX this week and PC Tools discovered that SXSW festival acts like Cee Lo Green, The Strokes and Duran Duran are being targeted by cybercriminals. As fans search for music downloads, concert videos and photos of their favorite artists, they may be hit with viruses or malware. These scams are particularly malicious because they look – and feel – like legitimate websites. Here are some scams to watch out for:

Bogus Music Downloads: This new search-related scam involves legitimate-looking websites offering free or discounted music downloads. A search for "Cee Lo Green, Forget You" turned up free download sites that either tricked users into providing their credit card information or convinced people to install fake antivirus software by telling them their computer was infected.

Search Results Virus Scam: Cybercriminals are using new search-related scams by buying online ads or key search words so their sites appear as high-ranked results. In a search for SXSW's headliner "Duran Duran," the top results featured legitimate-looking advertisements that redirected people to fake antivirus malware sites like "Get free lyrics," "Take this quiz to win," or "Enter to win contest." This technique of seeding search and seeding ad results dupes users and attacks systems with viruses and malware.

Free Ringtone Scam: Many browser searches related to a band, artist or song yield results that feature ringtone ads or free offers. A search for "The Strokes music" reveals "free ringtone offers." A user clicks on the free offer, provides cell phone number and carrier name. Initially, there is no mention of any subscription charges. Later the user is billed by the mobile carrier for the ringtone and may find it difficult to cancel. Some ringtone pop-ups or sites may also infect systems.

Infected Image Search Scam: Cybercriminals are using image searches as a new way to attack users' systems. A search on a celebrity, singer or band name reveals high-ranked images that may have embedded malware or links to malicious sites. When a music fan clicks on the picture unknowingly, the malicious program is downloaded and starts running on their system.

"Our job is to stay ahead of the new threats with our behavioral-based detection technologies," Edwards added. "Our award-winning software, PC Tools Internet Security 2011 and PC Tools Spyware Doctor with Antivirus 2011, offers powerful, real-time protection against known and unknown threats with advanced antimalware, antispam and firewall. We want consumers to enjoy their music without the headaches online viruses bring."

Learn more at www.pctools.com or visit them at SXSW 2011.