Scareware
From Free net encyclopedia
Scareware is a class of software designed only to cause anxiety in the unsuspecting user. One example is a small program that puts up a dialog box saying "Erase everything on hard drive?" with two buttons, labeled "OK" and "OK". Regardless which button is chosen, nothing is destroyed other than the user's composure.
Scareware is also often used to describe software products, that while serving some desired purpose, also produce a lot of frivolous and alarming warnings or threat notices, most typically commercial firewall software. This class of program tries to increase its perceived value by bombarding the user with constant warning messages that do not increase its effectiveness in any way.
Some websites display pop-up advertisement windows or banners with text such as: "Your computer may be infected with harmful spyware programs. Immediate removal may be required. To scan, click 'Yes' below." Products using advertisements such these are often considered scareware.