'The ArialText font was not found' Pop-Ups

'The ArialText font was not found' pop-ups are drive-by-download attacks that trick their victims into installing threatening software, such as Trojans with file-encrypting features. Disable scripts, pop-ups, advertisements and other, advanced browser content to keep this threat from launching automatically. Malware experts also recommend keeping active anti-malware protection to block 'The ArialText font was not found' pop-ups or remove any threats that may install themselves during their appearance.

Starting at Missing Fonts to Find Security Problems

While they're facing stiff competition from spam-based techniques, website vulnerability-based attacks for compromising random or specific PCs remain significant to the threatening software industry. One of the latest of such attacks that malware experts can confirm is carrying an old threat: a variant of the infamous Cerber Ransomware. This Trojan encrypts your files for ransoms, but the installation attack, loaded through 'The ArialText font was not found' pop-ups, shows no signs of these consequences.

'The ArialText font was not found' pop-ups launch via a hostile or compromised website, potentially including ones using unsafe advertising networks. Unprotected Web surfers encounter the pop-up attacks in several phases, starting with a 'Microsoft font pack' alert, and following with a download link that claims to provide the missing font. Current versions of 'The ArialText font was not found' pop-ups also load with gibberish text-themed backgrounds to imply that the website is displaying incorrectly.

Victims who click this fake update button infect their PCs with a member of the Cerber Ransomware family, which malware analysts rank as being a high-level threat. These Trojans can encrypt and block files automatically, play audio messages, and ask for ransoms of hundreds of US dollars in Bitcoins.

Finding Your Way out of this Summer's Drive-By-Download Campaign

'The ArialText font was not found' pop-ups are formatted sufficiently cleverly to convince victims who aren't familiar with the traditional update prompts for Windows or their Web browsers. It also includes a Microsoft symbol for validating the supposed authenticity of the disguised attack. However, grammar problems, a reference to the downloading activity as being 'uploading,' and dubbing the Arial font file as being 'ArialText' incorrectly all are clues to the actual motives of the pop-up.

Downloading missing font files from arbitrary pop-up resources can compromise your PC with data-locking Trojans like the Cerber Ransomware, or even worse threats. Download files from independently investigated and reputable sites, only, unless you know that the update request is genuine. Windows and Microsoft never will ask you to download a font to assist with the loading of a website blindly. Furthermore, most anti-malware applications that include browser-protecting features should block 'The ArialText font was not found' pop-ups or remove their payloads from an infection.

The drive-by-downloads of threats like 'The ArialText font was not found' pop-ups are anything but unexpected or new to the Web. Not knowing when it's appropriate to update or download something is more than just an inconvenience, it's a passive invitation for con artists to take your PC hostage.