A local store holder issued a warning to other computer users Tuesday after a virus nearly wiped out her business.

Rogue security software, which can lay inactive in your system while exposing your personal information, infected the computer at Sarah Young's small knitting store.
It's devastating that something can come in and in five minutes, wipe out your entire computer, she said.

Young said her computer became infected with the virus and that it had destructive results. Robert Johnston, a computer expert, said the rogue security software formed by hackers has given many people problems.

It just opens up your total PC to the net, he said. And they can do whatever they desire to it.

The software behavior users into thinking they have a virus. In Young's case, a pop-up window warned her that the computer was infected. The program is designed to look similar to Microsoft Windows' protector software.

It said security tool and it looked actually official, Young said.

The software asks for a credit card number and promises it will remove the virus if a payment is complete. But the virus doesn't do pardon? it claims and can destroy a hard drive.