Well-known anti-spyware pioneer Lavasoft today announced the launch of a new resource tool, The Rogue Gallery, a comprehensive list of current rogue (fake) security applications, giving users the ability to immediately identify if they are targets of rogue threats.

Rogue security applications, often referred to as scareware, are rising at a rapid rate, posing one of today’s greatest security challenges to computer users. Taking the form of legitimate-looking anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-malware products, these rogue applications appear beneficial from a security perspective but provide little or no protection, generate misleading alerts, or attempt to lure users into fraudulent transactions – blurring the lines between genuine Internet security software and applications that expose users to high risk cyber threats.

Lavasoft Malware Labs security analysts monitor and apprehend these rogue programs, adding them to the threat database of its Ad-Aware security software to protect users. According to Malware Labs analysts, the number of rogue applications is rising at an alarming rate; November 2009 alone saw the release of 22 new rogues – almost one new rogue program per day. The Rogue Gallery is part of Lavasoft’s commitment to stop the spread of these rogue programs, giving consumers a practical resource to quickly and clearly identify what programs are rogue – and avoid them.

“It can be quite difficult for the average Internet user to keep track of these rogue programs. Inspired by the great work done before us by Spywarewarrior.com – a fantastic resource in its day which really helped a lot of users – we wanted to continue the work started and create a site with both historical information about older rogues as well as up- to-date information about the latest rogue threats,” says Andrew Browne, team leader of the Malware Labs at Lavasoft.

The Rogue Gallery, powered by the Malware Labs at Lavasoft, lists every rogue added to Ad-Aware’s threat database throughout Lavasoft’s history. It currently houses over 500 rogue applications, and is updated upon a new rogue program discovery. Using this resource, consumers are able to search for rogues in alphabetical order or choose to display the latest threats. Also included on the site is a link to “Submit a Rogue”, giving users the ability to quickly and easily send any suspicious programs directly to the Malware Labs to be analyzed and added to detection if necessary.

“There are many sites that have fragments of information about rogues or just aren’t updated regularly enough to be useful. In the Lavasoft Rogue Gallery, you’ll find the names of every rogue seen, a screenshot of its user interface and additional information about it. We update the site every time a new rogue is identified and hope users will use the information to avoid becoming victims of scareware,” Browne says.

The Rogue Gallery is available at http://www.lavasoft.com/mylavasoft/rogues. More information on Lavasoft’s security solutions as well as online protection tips can be found on the Lavasoft website at www.lavasoft.com.