‘This is a Recommended download, Install takes less than a minute’ Pop-Up Alert

The 'This is a Recommended Download' pop-up alert is an attack that's used to install unreliable software while tricking the victim into believing they're installing an update or a beneficial program. Although many 'This is a Recommended Download' pop-up alerts are disguised as updates to media players, others may not mention the software they claim to install at all. They usually are created by contact with corrupted websites or by the installation of threats that generate hostile pop-ups. In either case, malware researchers would encourage using all appropriate anti-malware tools be put into action after even trivial contact with a 'This is a Recommended Download' pop-up alert.

Why You Shouldn't Heed Every Recommendation that Comes Your Way

While the 'This is a Recommended Download' pop-up alert is designed to look like a 'trustworthy' download prompt, the 'This is a Recommended Download' pop-up alert is another variant of a common scam favored by malware authors who are in need of less than honest ways of distributing their products. Often seen at compromised websites like Web.longfintuna.net, a 'This is a Recommended Download' pop-up alert often claims to be a necessary update to view streaming media content on the associated page. Contrasting with other types of false alerts such as the 'Flash Player Update is Required to View this Content' Virus and the 'Java Software Critical Update' Pop-up Alert, the 'This is a Recommended Download' pop-up alert often fails to mention the specific software that the 'This is a Recommended Download' pop-up alert supposedly is installing.

The vagueness of the 'This is a Recommended Download' pop-up alert should be enough of a tip-off that the 'This is a Recommended Download' pop-up alert actually is an attack against your PC, but any PC users who fail to heed the warning signs may compromise their own systems with installers for threats and/or Potentially Unwanted Programs. Like other generalized threat-installing attacks, the 'This is a Recommended Download' pop-up alert's payloads may be extremely variable. Possibilities that malware researchers feel worthy of stressing include:

• Security-debilitating PC threats, such as backdoor Trojans that enable criminals to exert control over the PC.
• Information-collecting PC threats, such as banking Trojans, keyloggers and other forms of spyware.
• Trojans that imitate the Police or other law enforcement institutions while they block your desktop (Police Ransomware Trojans, Ukash Viruses, etc).

Getting a 'This is a Recommended Download' pop-up alert's Recommended Threat Off of Your PC

Any 'This is a Recommended Download' pop-up alert has the potential to install high-level PC threats that show minimal symptoms while collecting information, disabling important security tools or causing other forms of harm to your PC. Although rejecting a 'This is a Recommended Download' pop-up alert is an obvious form of self-defense, malware experts often see 'This is a Recommended Download' pop-up alerts and other attacks used along with exploit kits that are able to set up threatening software on the victim's machine. The dangers of a 'This is a Recommended Download' pop-up alert warrant the immediate attention of trusted brands of anti-malware software.

The 'This is a Recommended Download' pop-up alert also is related to threats in a secondary fashion: by its distribution by browser-modifying PC threats that are known to create toxic pop-ups. If the 'This is a Recommended Download' pop-up alert occurs in your browser repeatedly, your PC is, probably, contaminated with other PC threats that must be exterminated before worse harm than a few pop-up problems can be incurred.