Give your overzealous security software the boot
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When your antivirus, spyware stopper, or firewall keeps you from getting your work done, find an alternative.
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Blog: This ambitious suite will go beyond basic antivirus and firewall protection for your mobile device.
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New security software supplements antivirus protection by scanning systems for &#39;bot&#39; malware that can take over unprotected PCs.
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Over the past month, a new type of malicious software has emerged, using a decades-old technique to hide itself from antivirus software.The malware, called Trojan.Mebroot by Symantec, installs itself on the first part of the computer&#39;s hard drive to be read on startup, then makes changes to the Windows kernel, making it hard for security software to detect it.Criminals have been installing Trojan.Mebroot, known as a master boot record rootkit, since mid-December, and were able to infect nearly 5,000 users in two separate attacks, staged on Dec. 12 and Dec. 19, according to Verisign&#39;s iDefense Intelligence Team. In order to install the software on a victim&#39;s computer, attackers first lure them to a compromised Web site, which then launches a variety of attacks against the victim&#39;s computer in hopes of finding a way to run the rootkit code on the PC.Once installed, the malware gives attackers control over the victim&#39;s machine.The group behind this latest rootkit is the same one responsible for the Torpig Trojan, and it is believed to have already installed more than 250,000 Trojan programs, iDefense said in a report on the rootkit published Monday.The interesting thing about Trojan.Mebroot is that it installs itself on the master boot record (MBR). This is the first sector of the computer&#39;s hard drive and it is the place the computer goes to first whenever it wants to boot up the operating system. &quot;Basically, if you can control the MBR, you can control the operating system and therefore the computer it resides on,&quot; wrote Symantec researcher Elia Florio in a blog posting on Trojan.Mebroot.The criminals are using several different versions of this attack code, some of which are not currently being detected by some antivirus products, iDefense said.&quot;At the moment the AV detection is hit and miss across the board, however in the last day a number of vendors have added detection for it already,&quot; said Andrew Storms, director of security operations with nCircle Network Security. &quot;As for penetration, so far many people are showing it as having a low overall distribution. The concern is that the group which may be preparing to distribute the rootkit is well-prepared.&quot;Malicious software that infected the master boot record was common during the MS-DOS era, but it has not been used much in attacks in recent years.In 2005, however, researchers at eEye Digital Security gave a talk at the Black Hat security conference, showing how a rootkit could hide itself on the MBR. This Trojan.Mebroot software is derived from that code, iDefense said.Getting this kind of malicious software to work reliably is a technical challenge, and there have generally been easier ways for the bad guys to take over PCs in recent years, said Marc Maiffret, an independent security researcher who was chief technology officer at eEye when the code was first developed.Attackers were given a hand last year, however, when researchers at NV Labs published a proof of concept MBR rootkit.Maiffret said that while we may soon see more of these MBR rootkits, &quot;it won&#39;t take long for all the antivirus companies to react.&quot;&quot;It&#39;s not some new attack vector that&#39;s going to be hard to prevent,&quot; he said. &quot;It&#39;s just something that people haven&#39;t really paid attention to.&quot;
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Cures for an update gone bad, a trashed Registry, and a shutdown failure.
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thejoelpatrol writes &quot;So did Slashdotters call this one? Windows XP SP2 seems not to be so secure after all. A Register reporter goes in depth to find out just how safe a fresh install is.
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Antivirus software is frequently tested for performance, so picking a top product should be straightforward: Select the number-one vendor whose software kills off all of the evil things circulating on the Internet. You&#39;re good to go then, right? Not necessarily.
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New utility from PivX keeps intruders out of Windows systems.
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Windows? Linux? Mac OS? One day it won't matter.
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Service Pack 1 fixes security flaws, updates individual applications.
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Easy-peasy-sleazy: A new piece of PHP code making the malware rounds can install a phishing site on a compromised server in about two minutes.
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A software developer whose program was accidentally labeled a threat is considering action against the antivirus company.
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Letters: Going deeper on the question of security and operating systems.
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A FAKE security advisory is being circulated that suggests that Red Hat&#39;s Linux distribution users should download and install malicious code.
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Security-minded users can find out faster if their applications need to be patched with a free tool.
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Windows security holes patched; tool to rid PCs of malicious software now available.
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Every IT initiative should have security reviews early and often, says Mathias Thurman. Waiting can result in applications with gaping security holes &mdash; costing money and causing delays.