CYBERSPACE – A new spyware program coined “DigiKeyGen” is the latest to prey on web surfers’ interest in pornography in order to get them to download the malicious program.According to reports in the Associated Press, DigiKeyGen appears on web pages which claim the program is a “password generator” offering free access to subscription adult sites. When users run the spyware, it generates passwords which supposedly allow them access to porn sites; the AP reports do not specify whether the passwords are active/working passwords.

Simultaneously, and unbeknownst to the DigiKeyGen user, a spyware application is also installed on the user’s computer. The software subsequently generates a message warning the user that their system has become “infected” and displays ads for a purported anti-spyware program for the price of $49.95.

Luis Corrons, director of Panda Software Labs said that his company had discovered that DigiKeyGen was available for download on adult sites other than the program’s official page, as well.

“You must always be suspicious of offers for something in exchange for almost nothing,” Corrons said in a press release Panda issued warning of the presence of the new spyware. “Cybercrime, which aims to make easy money, simply applies traditional fraud techniques to the Internet, and as a result, anybody tempted by the chance to get something for nothing is taken in, unaware of the risks of apparently harmless actions such as downloading small programs or accessing certain Web sites.”

The trick employed by the distributors of DigiKeyGen is nothing new, Panda noted. Other supposed anti-spyware programs detected in the past, such as RazeSpyware or SpySheriff, used the same hook as DigiKeyGen; they offered to clean nonexistent spyware, or spyware installed with perhaps unintentional consent of the user, for a price.

“Even users with sound IT knowledge could drop their guard with offers like this,” Corrons said. “It is essential to be cautious of irresistible offers in the Internet. Users should leave the task of deciding whether or not a program is malicious to an anti-malware solution.”