Spyware Security » Virus

Intego: 2011 offered bumper crop of Mac malware

admin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:01:52 +0000

One of Apple’s chief advantages in the personal computing market has been that its Mac computers have been relatively impervious to viruses and malware, at least when compared to Windows-based PCs. But that advantage may have been more difficult to maintain in 2011–at least, according to a new report from security firm Intego.

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Highlights from VB 2011 Barcelona

admin — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 08:10:00 +0000

This year, we had the privilege of attending the 21st Virus Bulletin International Conference in Barcelona, Spain. Researchers from Trend Micro presented three topics in the corporate stream and one topic in the technical stream. Ethan YX Chen covered file-fraction reputation for the technical stream on day 1. For the corporate steam on day [...]

Targeting the Source: FAKEAV Affiliate Networks

admin — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 13:08:27 +0000

The operators of malicious networks are continuously monetizing their activities by propagating rogue security software that use scare tactics to trick unsuspecting users into installing and purchasing fake antivirus software, aka FAKEAV. Although there has been a decline in the FAKEAV volume as a result of the increasing pressure on payment processors that handle credit [...]

Updates on the SK Comms Data Breach

admin — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 19:08:43 +0000

Last week we discussed the SK Communications data breach where a large number of user accounts in South Korea were exposed. The scope appears to be bigger than initially reported, as ESTsoft, a South Korean company that develops software (including antivirus, compression utility software, etc.), came forward with a public notice disclosing that one of [...]

Black Hat: Researcher picks apart Sophos antivirus package

admin — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 13:08:51 +0000

A researcher presenting at Black Hat picked apart Sophos Antivirus software and found it lacking in several areas that leave it vulnerable to attack or circumvention – something he says might apply to other antivirus vendors’ products as well, but he just hasn’t looked.

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Malwarebytes preps enterprise edition of PC-cleaning software

admin — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 19:07:01 +0000

Malwarebytes this fall expects to release an enterprise-grade anti-malware platform that it says doesn’t compete directly with traditional antivirus software because it relies more on observing how the malware acts and less on seeking code signatures.

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Traditional host-based anti-virus software losing luster?

admin — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 21:06:37 +0000

Traditional host-based anti-malware packages just aren’t that useful anymore, according to some companies that find it either doesn’t protect against the main dangers they face from the Web or it simply doesn’t run well in virtualized computer environments.

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From the Love Bug to Scary Predators

admin — Wed, 18 May 2011 13:05:06 +0000

(Or, How Money Makes the Web Go ‘Round) May is an important month in the IT security industry because it’s the anniversary of one of the most fearsome viruses ever: the ILOVEYOU virus, also known as the Lovebug. Back in 2000, it was a very big deal because it created a new way of infecting [...]

Targeting the Source: FAKEAV and Malicious Domains

admin — Fri, 06 May 2011 02:05:51 +0000

In order to monetize their malicious activities, botnet operators, spammers, and those behind blackhat search engine optimization (SEO) campaigns create accounts with a network of FAKEAV affiliates. These affiliates supply URLs to landing pages that display false antivirus scanners and that attempt to scare users into installing rogue antivirus software. If users purchase the fake product, [...]

DLL-Based FAKEAV Returns, in the Wild Again

admin — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 04:04:41 +0000

In our previous FAKEAV white paper, we presented how Trend Micro researchers tracked down the evolution of FAKEAV and followed its development behaviorwise from one generation to the next. One of the earlier generations (fourth, to be exact) in the paper comprises DLL-based FAKEAV—fake antivirus that use a .DLL file to perform all of their malicious routines to primarily avoid easy [...]