viruses posts

Filed under: Security, Windows, Microsoft, Mozilla

Video - Ben Feinstein of SecureWorks talks emerging threats with The Squadcast

by Grant Robertson Dec 13th 2007

Think you're safe online? Think again. We had no idea how vulnerable the average PC really is. Ben Feinstein of SecureWorks breaks it down for us and gives some practical tips for keeping your PC safe from the bad guys.

When Christina and I taped episode 5, Ben had way too much good stuff to talk about. Way more than would fit in a single episode. So, we decided to tape a longer interview and release it separately. Ben will scare you to death with all the nasties that are waiting on the intarwebs to hijack your beloved PC. He also offers some good tips for keeping clear of the evil side of the web.

Download this video in high-quality XviD (81MB)

Tags: Ben Feinstein, BenFeinstein, drive by downloads, DriveByDownloads, malware, SecureWorks, security, spyware, threats, viruses

Filed under: Security, Video, Features

The Squadcast 05 - Security Starts at Home

by Grant Robertson Dec 10th 2007

Hiding under your bed in fear of the latest Internet threats? Fear not young digital warrior, we've got you covered. On this week's episode of The Squadcast we talk to SecureWorks security researcher Ben Feinstein about staying safe online, keeping the hackers out, and more. Plus, Grant and Christina count down our five favorite free security downloads.

Watch "The Squadcast 05 - Security Starts at Home"
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Tags: hacked, malware, security, spyware, squadcast, viruses

Filed under: Internet, Security, News

China overrun with computer viruses

by Grant Robertson Jul 30th 2007

Get out your data condoms if you're headed to China. A recent report says China is hit the hardest by computer viruses. Over 35 million computers were infected in the first half of the year according to Chinese anti-virus company Rising.

China Tech News reports, "There are a great deal of hidden troubles in domestic Internet software and applications that apparently lack effective protection measures. Often software makers do not spend time creating patches for their software, leading virus makers to attack the holes in the applications."

Tags: china, virus, viruses

Filed under: Internet, Security, Windows

Windows trojan horses outnumber viri and worms 4 to 1

by Grant Robertson Jan 24th 2007

Anti-virus maker Sophos recently released its 2007 Security Threat Report, a State of The Union for desktop security issues which, given a full read-through makes you shudder to think of the malware and nasties your PC could run afoul of any given time.

According to the report, Windows Trojans, which sometimes go undetected for long periods of time, outnumber viruses and worms by a factor of 4 to 1. Making matters worse, some malware purveyors are becoming ever-more sneaky with the ways in which they trick users. The report explains, "[Trojan writers] continue to place traditional spyware code on individual computers. However, they are also moving strongly towards a new method in which they spam out emails offering, for example, a plug-in to view videos or pornography or even offering free bogus security applications. "

I've received several trojan emails recently posing as bogus greeting cards from unnamed acquaintances but, being a jaded computer user, I'm not easily misled. With little imagination however, It's pretty easy to see how a less savvy user could be duped into inadvertently installing a trojan of doom. Like a bad one night stand, it only takes a single mistake to find yourself in the throes with some nasty creatures. It's a chilling reminder to stay vigilant and frequently run your anti-virus software of choice.

Tags: internet security, InternetSecurity, malware, Sophos, spyware, trojan horse, TrojanHorse, viri, virus, viruses

Filed under: OS Updates, Security, Windows, Microsoft

Allchin says Vista won't need antivirus

by Jordan Running Nov 10th 2006

Great news, everybody! Windows Vista is so secure it makes antivirus programs obsolete! Er.. well, not exactly. According to BetaNews, Microsoft co-president Jim Allchin told reporters on Wednesday that "[Vista's] new lockdown features are so capable and thorough that he was comfortable with his own seven-year-old son using Vista without antivirus software installed." "My son, seven years old, runs Windows Vista, and, honestly, he doesn't have an antivirus system on his machine," said Allchin. "His machine is locked down with parental controls, he can't download things unless it's to the places that I've said that he could do, and I'm feeling totally confident about that." He did make a concession to hackers, however, saying, "The hackers are getting smarter, there's more at stake, and so there's just no way for us to say that some perfection has been achieved. But I can say, knowing what I know now, I feel very confident." He also said he believes Vista is "the most secure system available."

I don't even know where to start, so I leave it to you, faithful readers, to pick it up in the comments.

Tags: antivirus, jim allchin, JimAllchin, malware, microsoft, security, viruses, vista, windows, windows vista, WindowsVista

Filed under: Security

Consumer Reports creates 5,500 new computer viruses

by Jordan Running Aug 18th 2006

Former Download Squad co-lead Marc Perton wrote in to tell us about a bit of controversy stirred up by his current employer, Consumer Reports, which recently conducted one of the most comprehensive tests of anti-virus software to date. The controversy is that for the test Consumer Reports hired a firm to create 5,500 new variants of existing viruses to see how antivirus software reacted to new threats. And, not unexpectedly, the antivirus companies threw a fit. Here's what McAfee's Igor Muttik had to say about it: "Creating new viruses for the purpose of testing and education is generally not considered a good idea." Consumer Union's Evan Beckford defended the test, saying, "We need to anticipate how antivirus software will react to future threats. This is the only way we know to do it. We think the benefits far outweigh the risks." SANS Institute's Alan Paller agrees, saying, "extremely valuable because a great weakness of most leading antivirus tools is that they are slow in detecting new viruses," adding that creating viruses in a lab isn't wrong--distributing them is.

Among the antivirus software tested, McAfee's scored in the middle of the pack, which was led by offerings from BitDefender and Zone Laps. McAfee denies that its criticism of Consumer Reports' methods was not motivated by its score. You can read Consumer Reports' report on how the tests were conducted here.

So, what do you think? Is creating thousands of new virus variants playing with fire, and do all of us stand to get burned as a result, or are tests like this essential to staying ahead of new threats before they're created?

Tags: antivirus, consumer reports, ConsumerReports, mcafee, security, virus, viruses

Filed under: Internet, News, Windows, Macintosh, Linux

RSS feeds the next virus medium?

by Jordan Running Jul 14th 2005

Virus alert! Makers of firewall and anti-virus software are warning that RSS feeds could be the next big thing for spreading viruses. In this article from The Register, Trend Micro's marketing manager says, "RSS feeds point to HTML pages and as such, they can be made to point to HTML-exploits or malicious JavaScript. It certainly can be a possible way of distributing malicious code over the internet to the subscribers of the RSS feed." Zone Labs, makers of ZoneAlarm, agree.

Personally, I don't buy it. It's not unlikely that such a vulnerability will be found in RSS readers in the near future, but as pointed out in the article, to be a useful medium for spreading a virus an RSS feed has to be very popular. But in order for a virus to get into a popular RSS feed, whomever is publishing the feed would have to insert the virus intentionally, or accidentally create a situation in which a third party could. Though not impossible, it seems like an unlikely confluence of circumstances.

Do you think Trend Micro and Zone Labs will be touting RSS scanning features in their upcoming anti-virus and firewall products?

Tags: anti-virus, firewall, pc-cillin, rss, trend+micro, TrendMicro, virus, viruses, zone+alarm, zone+labs, ZoneAlarm, ZoneLabs

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