‘BOSC Warning’ Pop-Up
Posted: December 10, 2015
Threat Metric
The following fields listed on the Threat Meter containing a specific value, are explained in detail below:
Threat Level: The threat level scale goes from 1 to 10 where 10 is the highest level of severity and 1 is the lowest level of severity. Each specific level is relative to the threat's consistent assessed behaviors collected from SpyHunter's risk assessment model.
Detection Count: The collective number of confirmed and suspected cases of a particular malware threat. The detection count is calculated from infected PCs retrieved from diagnostic and scan log reports generated by SpyHunter.
Volume Count: Similar to the detection count, the Volume Count is specifically based on the number of confirmed and suspected threats infecting systems on a daily basis. High volume counts usually represent a popular threat but may or may not have infected a large number of systems. High detection count threats could lay dormant and have a low volume count. Criteria for Volume Count is relative to a daily detection count.
Trend Path: The Trend Path, utilizing an up arrow, down arrow or equal symbol, represents the level of recent movement of a particular threat. Up arrows represent an increase, down arrows represent a decline and the equal symbol represent no change to a threat's recent movement.
% Impact (Last 7 Days): This demonstrates a 7-day period change in the frequency of a malware threat infecting PCs. The percentage impact correlates directly to the current Trend Path to determine a rise or decline in the percentage.
Threat Level: | 8/10 |
---|---|
Infected PCs: | 95 |
First Seen: | December 10, 2015 |
---|---|
Last Seen: | April 10, 2020 |
OS(es) Affected: | Windows |
The 'BOSC Warning' pop-up is a pop-up tactic used to encourage random Web surfers to contact a fake technical support line. Through this connection, con artists may request access to your computer, promote scamware products or try to collect legally-protected information like your credit card number. Any contact with a 'BOSC Warning' pop-up should be taken as roughly equivalent to loading a threatening website, with scans by your anti-malware tools used for deleting any settings changes that cause a 'BOSC Warning' pop-up to load more than once.
The Very Last Browser Warning You should Follow
The 'BOSC Warning' campaign is one that malware experts saw in evidence in December of this year. While similar campaigns have conducted themselves through other pop-up attacks (like the 866-344-4315 Pop-Up or the 'Warning! You Have Excessive Pop-Ups' Alert) in previous months, the 'BOSC Warning' attacks are associated with a browser-specific PC threat that only modifies the Firefox browser. No other symptoms, such as homepage changes or advertising pop-ups, have ties to these attacks, implying that the threat was designed specifically for promoting the fake 'BOSC Warning' messages.
PCs with this threat installed may load pop-ups for the 'BOSC Warning' pop-up via Firefox, including accompanying 'beep' error sounds that associate themselves with hardware problems (such as improperly configured graphics cards) traditionally. Meanwhile, the content of the 'BOSC Warning' may include fraudulent security warnings and recommendations for calling an equally-fraudulent technical support hotline. Malware experts found computer users affected by these attacks that contacted the 'BOSC Warning' hotline being requested to grant remote access to their machines, effectively turning a pop-up attack into a backdoor attack, as well.
Backdoor attacks grant remote attackers nearly unlimited control over your PC, and may enable unwanted changes to your system settings, the collection of any stored information or even initiating threatening software installations automatically. As two examples, con artists may install a backdoor Trojan to solidify their access to a compromised machine, or install spyware that may collect wide ranges of information that would be impractical to request via phone.
A Final Warning on Stopping a 'BOSC Warning'
Although you may be able to gain a reprieve from a 'BOSC Warning' pop-up by uninstalling Firefox, doing so will not remove any threats responsible for the system changes that launched these pop-up attacks originally. Rather than thwarting the symptom of the security lapse, malware researchers recommend scanning compromised PCs with in-depth anti-malware products traditionally. Basic safeguards like using Safe Mode and closing all unneeded programs (including Chrome) during your scans can help improve your scanner's detection and removal rates.
The con artists behind the 'BOSC Warning' pop-up have histories of portraying themselves as being Microsoft affiliates. This tactic is a common cover for third parties that wish to gain access to your PC for the purpose of collecting financial or identity-related information. Never take technical support advice from pop-ups, or grant remote access to your PC to a stranger whose identity is unverifiable. If you think your data may have had leaked in consequence of a 'BOSC Warning' attack, monitor your credit accounts for any suspicious activity. Your bank and credit card companies may provide further assistance if it's needed.
Leave a Reply
Please note that we are not able to assist with billing and support issues regarding SpyHunter or other products. If you're having issues with SpyHunter, please get in touch with SpyHunter customer support through your SpyHunter . If you have SpyHunter billing questions, we recommend you check the Billing FAQ. For general suggestions or feedback, contact us.