{"id":301,"date":"2007-01-02T18:44:07","date_gmt":"2007-01-02T16:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.en.softonic.com\/2007\/01\/02\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\/"},"modified":"2025-07-02T03:00:46","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T10:00:46","slug":"beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\/","title":{"rendered":"Beware security suites bearing gifts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"image310\" title=\"padlock1.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.en.softonic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/01\/padlock1.jpg\" alt=\"padlock1.jpg\" align=\"right\" \/>Considering it\u2019s the season of good will to all, some sneaky devils are adamant on spoiling it for everyone, according to <a href=\"http:\/\/techdigest.tv\/2006\/12\/antispyware_fir.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sunbelt software<\/a>. The company is warning users of the rise of computer software masquerading as legitimate security software.<\/p>\n<p>According to the firm, certain sites are able to trick users into paying for applications that are actually ineffective at securing their computer and could even contain malicious viruses or malware themselves. The company has seen incidences of bogus software (much of which comes from the same companies and is simply rebranded) increase in the run-up to Christmas and warn that it could represent a continued threat throughout the new year. Our advice is to stick to programs like <a href=\"http:\/\/norton-internet-security.en.softonic.com\/ie\/21972\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Norton Internet Security<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/panda-antivirus.en.softonic.com\/ie\/55231\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Panda Antivirus<\/a> (or <a href=\"http:\/\/avg-anti-virus-system.en.softonic.com\/ie\/18522\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">AVG<\/a> if you\u2019re on a tight budget) in order to tackle potential attacks<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Considering it\u2019s the season of good will to all, some sneaky devils are adamant on spoiling it for everyone, according to Sunbelt software. The company is warning users of the rise of computer software masquerading as legitimate security software. According to the firm, certain sites are able to trick users into paying for applications that &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Beware security suites bearing gifts&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2006,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":0},"categories":[],"tags":[],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 5.0.4 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Considering it\u2019s the season of good will to all, some sneaky devils are adamant on spoiling it for everyone, according to Sunbelt software. The company is warning users of the rise of computer software masquerading as legitimate security software. According to the firm, certain sites are able to trick users into paying for applications that\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Thornton\"\/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO (AIOSEO) 5.0.4\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Softonic English - Just another Softonic Sites site\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Beware security suites bearing gifts - Softonic English\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Considering it\u2019s the season of good will to all, some sneaky devils are adamant on spoiling it for everyone, according to Sunbelt software. The company is warning users of the rise of computer software masquerading as legitimate security software. According to the firm, certain sites are able to trick users into paying for applications that\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-01-02T16:44:07+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-02T10:00:46+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Beware security suites bearing gifts - Softonic English\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Considering it\u2019s the season of good will to all, some sneaky devils are adamant on spoiling it for everyone, according to Sunbelt software. The company is warning users of the rise of computer software masquerading as legitimate security software. According to the firm, certain sites are able to trick users into paying for applications that\" \/>\n\t\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"aioseo-schema\">\n\t\t\t{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"BlogPosting\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\\\/#blogposting\",\"name\":\"Beware security suites bearing gifts - Softonic English\",\"headline\":\"Beware security suites bearing gifts\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/author\\\/james\\\/#author\"},\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blog.en.softonic.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2007\\\/01\\\/padlock1.jpg\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\\\/#articleImage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2007-01-02T18:44:07-08:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-02T03:00:46-07:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\\\/#webpage\"},\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\\\/#webpage\"}},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\\\/#breadcrumblist\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Beware security suites bearing gifts\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Beware security suites bearing gifts\",\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Home\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Softonic English\",\"description\":\"Just another Softonic Sites site\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/author\\\/james\\\/#author\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/author\\\/james\\\/\",\"name\":\"James Thornton\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\\\/#authorImage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f66972d69bc9b2aabb7aa34f045e7f34e8714a83992a4df6a3f346e4caaafe64?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"width\":96,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"James Thornton\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\\\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\\\/\",\"name\":\"Beware security suites bearing gifts - Softonic English\",\"description\":\"Considering it\\u2019s the season of good will to all, some sneaky devils are adamant on spoiling it for everyone, according to Sunbelt software. The company is warning users of the rise of computer software masquerading as legitimate security software. According to the firm, certain sites are able to trick users into paying for applications that\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\\\/#breadcrumblist\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/author\\\/james\\\/#author\"},\"creator\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/author\\\/james\\\/#author\"},\"datePublished\":\"2007-01-02T18:44:07-08:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-02T03:00:46-07:00\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Softonic English\",\"description\":\"Just another Softonic Sites site\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cms-articles.softonic.io\\\/en\\\/#organization\"}}]}\n\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO -->\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"Beware security suites bearing gifts - Softonic English","description":"Considering it\u2019s the season of good will to all, some sneaky devils are adamant on spoiling it for everyone, according to Sunbelt software. The company is warning users of the rise of computer software masquerading as legitimate security software. According to the firm, certain sites are able to trick users into paying for applications that","canonical_url":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\/","robots":"max-image-preview:large","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"miscellaneous":""},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\/#blogposting","name":"Beware security suites bearing gifts - Softonic English","headline":"Beware security suites bearing gifts","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/author\/james\/#author"},"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"http:\/\/blog.en.softonic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/01\/padlock1.jpg","@id":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\/#articleImage"},"datePublished":"2007-01-02T18:44:07-08:00","dateModified":"2025-07-02T03:00:46-07:00","inLanguage":"en-US","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\/#webpage"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\/#webpage"}},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\/#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/#listItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\/#listItem","name":"Beware security suites bearing gifts"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\/#listItem","position":2,"name":"Beware security suites bearing gifts","previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/#listItem","name":"Home"}}]},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/#organization","name":"Softonic English","description":"Just another Softonic Sites site","url":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/author\/james\/#author","url":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/author\/james\/","name":"James Thornton","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\/#authorImage","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f66972d69bc9b2aabb7aa34f045e7f34e8714a83992a4df6a3f346e4caaafe64?s=96&d=mm&r=g","width":96,"height":96,"caption":"James Thornton"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\/","name":"Beware security suites bearing gifts - Softonic English","description":"Considering it\u2019s the season of good will to all, some sneaky devils are adamant on spoiling it for everyone, according to Sunbelt software. The company is warning users of the rise of computer software masquerading as legitimate security software. According to the firm, certain sites are able to trick users into paying for applications that","inLanguage":"en-US","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/#website"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\/#breadcrumblist"},"author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/author\/james\/#author"},"creator":{"@id":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/author\/james\/#author"},"datePublished":"2007-01-02T18:44:07-08:00","dateModified":"2025-07-02T03:00:46-07:00"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/","name":"Softonic English","description":"Just another Softonic Sites site","inLanguage":"en-US","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/#organization"}}]},"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"Softonic English - Just another Softonic Sites site","og:type":"article","og:title":"Beware security suites bearing gifts - Softonic English","og:description":"Considering it\u2019s the season of good will to all, some sneaky devils are adamant on spoiling it for everyone, according to Sunbelt software. The company is warning users of the rise of computer software masquerading as legitimate security software. According to the firm, certain sites are able to trick users into paying for applications that","og:url":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\/","article:published_time":"2007-01-02T16:44:07+00:00","article:modified_time":"2025-07-02T10:00:46+00:00","twitter:card":"summary","twitter:title":"Beware security suites bearing gifts - Softonic English","twitter:description":"Considering it\u2019s the season of good will to all, some sneaky devils are adamant on spoiling it for everyone, according to Sunbelt software. The company is warning users of the rise of computer software masquerading as legitimate security software. According to the firm, certain sites are able to trick users into paying for applications that"},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"301","title":null,"description":null,"keywords":null,"keyphrases":null,"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"og_object_type":"default","og_image_type":"default","og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_video":null,"og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":null,"og_article_tags":null,"twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"default","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":null,"isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"schema_type":"default","schema_type_options":null,"pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":null,"robots_max_videopreview":null,"robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":null,"frequency":null,"local_seo":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"created":"2022-02-07 09:36:28","updated":"2025-07-02 10:28:52"},"aioseo_breadcrumb":"<div class=\"aioseo-breadcrumbs\"><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/\" title=\"Home\">Home<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">\u00bb<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\tBeware security suites bearing gifts\n\t\t<\/span><\/div>","aioseo_breadcrumb_json":[{"label":"Home","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/"},{"label":"Beware security suites bearing gifts","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/beware-security-suites-bearing-gifts\/"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2006"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":338004,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301\/revisions\/338004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=301"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=301"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}