Fake 'Cory' Antivirus Targets Search Engines: TrendLabs

A fake antivirus named "Cory" is taking advantage of the recent outburst of online coverage across blogs, news outlets, and social media in response to the death of Philippines national icon former president Corazon "Cory" Aquino.

The false antivirus, TROJ_FAKEALRT.FK, was discovered by antivirus developers at TrendLabs and targets SEO (search engine optimization), similarly to the attacks that infiltrated the news cycles of other recent major events. The program is hidden inside various websites, and links to the websites appear in search engine search results of users looking up information about Aquino.

The inordinate numbers of people, in the Philippines and internationally, who were writing about and searching for online information about Cory Aquino, proved an irresistable opportunity of exploitation to the cybercriminals who released the malicious software.