“Malware remains malware, and we want our users to feel safe,” says Tjark Auerbach, founder of Avira.
At Avira we are dedicated and committed to keeping our customers’ computer systems free from malicious software. As well as its numerous predecessors, we also detect the current Trojan that is widely known in the media as the “Bundestrojaner” (meaning “federal Trojan”, as used by the German government). This malicious software is reported as “TR/Gruenfink” (TR/Gruenfink.1 and TR/Gruenfink.2).
However, all Trojans are treated the same by the detection process of a modern antivirus program, regardless of their purpose. A distinction between a “legal” and “illegal” field of application is not possible – “a virus is still a virus.”
Also, additional heuristic or behavior-based detection mechanisms employed by antivirus software examine automatic downloads as well as all files for components that are characteristic of malware. Therefore, if features that are characteristic of malware have been implemented in a so-called “Bundestrojaner”, it will be reported in advance by a reliable antivirus scanner. Additionally, the user will be warned even if the malicious software was previously unknown.