Rapid Antivirus: A Quick Way to Slow Down Your System

How can you recognize a rogue antivirus program from a legitimate one? This is important in protecting your computer from both security risks and from rogue programs claiming to be able to fix them. Pop-ups are one sign that a program like Rapid Antivirus has entered your system? What else do you need to know about these programs?

What is Rapid Antivirus?

Knowing the characteristics of Rapid Antivirus is important because it will help you avoid this particular program, as well as other rogue programs. The ultimate goal of Rapid Antivirus is to convince computer users to purchase their software. How does it do this? Whenever you start your computer, Rapid Antivirus will begin a system scan. It will then display a list of threats it has found. What Rapid Antivirus counts on is that owners will not realize that this is a false scan and that the infections found do not exist. The list is created by Rapid Antivirus to back up its claims of infection. Rapid Antivirus cannot protect your computer.

Rapid Antivirus, also known as RapidAntivirus 2.7 and Rapid Antivirus Firewall, is a clone of Antivirus 2009, Power Antivirus 2009, Vista Antivirus 2009, and Antivir64. Each of these employs identical means to try to convince computer owners to purchase their products.

How Does Rapid Antivirus Gain Access?

Rogue antivirus programs take the same routes into computers. One of the more obvious ways that Rapid Antivirus is allowed access is that the computer owner installs it after buying the full version. As we will see, these ads are very convincing because they closely resemble warnings from legitimate antivirus programs.

Rapid Antivirus can enter your system in its free trial mode without your permission. In reality, there is no difference between the trial version and the full version except for the price tag. The free version is installed through trojans. Rapid Antivirus is associated with fake video codecs and this is the most likely route of entry. Video codecs are necessary for downloading and viewing videos online. There are codecs that compress media so it can be sent online or stored more easily, and there are codecs that decompress the video file again so it can be viewed. Trojans like Zlob disguise themselves as video codecs and enter your system when you download or view videos. Especially prone to trojans are videos that are free or inexpensive. Once in Zlob or another fake codec installs malware, including Rapid Antivirus.

Is Rapid Antivirus Installed in My System?

Knowing the signs that Rapid Antivirus is installed in your system is vital, especially as it can enter without your knowledge. When this rogue antivirus program is present in your computer, you will experience the following:

* Pop-ups. These are a favorite technique of rogue antivirus programs, and Rapid Antivirus is no different. When you learn to recognize the signs of a rogue warning as opposed to those from legitimate software, it is easier to avoid programs like Rapid Antivirus. A typical false scan result will have “Rapid Antivirus 2.7” in the top left corner, and “Rapid Antivirus” on the right. Each is accompanied by a red shield with white stripes, which aims to mimic the logos of reputable programs. The set-up also resembles that of real scan results. You will find a list of infections (remember that these are false), with the following warning:

Rapid Antivirus has found software that might harm your computer or compromise your privacy. You are highly recommended to remove unknown software.

Security status: At risk

Your choices are to activate the protection program, remove all threats, or continue without protection. This implies that you do not have a security program, which is most likely false.

* New icons or shortcuts. These are intended to help Rapid Antivirus convince owners that there are several security threats on their computers. When clicked on, they may display a list of infections with the message:

Your computer is infected

And:

Critical system error

You will then be diverted to a rogue website and urged to buy the full version of

Rapid Antivirus.

* Impaired performance. Rapid Antivirus takes up a lot of your system’s resources in order to run itself. Using up to eighty percent of your CPU power leaves little with which to run the legitimate programs. Routine jobs, like starting your computer, opening programs, or loading web pages take longer, and your internet connection may slow. Because slow functioning can be caused by a lot of other factors, it is important to look at the overall behavior of your system to determine if Rapid Antivirus or another rogue program is present.

When you notice that Rapid Antivirus has become installed in your computer, you should take immediate steps to remove it from your computer. If left to reside in your system, it may leave the door open for other trojans to enter and deposit other forms of malware.