Anti-virus vendor F-Secure has observed an increase in the number of digitally signed samples of malware. It said that increasing number of scareware are also including an authentic digital signature. A digitally signed software means that it is confirmed to be a legitimate software and that its origin is verified. The software authenticating method, called authenticode, recognizes the signed software's publisher and confirms that it has remained safe from tampering before its installation by users onto their computers. Consequently, authenticode enables users to make a better decision about downloading a software. Reportedly, malware authors are employing different tricks to get valid digital sign or certificates for their malicious software. This way they are successfully overcoming the hurdles on the Windows systems and stopping the alerts like those popping up at the time a software tries to install ActiveX control on Internet Explorer, or prior to downloading a driver.

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