Category: Techworld

Fighting ‘Scareware’ with a brand new list!

Paul

I just got informed today that the [intlink id=”3944″ type=”post”]list of that we talked about a few day[/intlink] ago has been updated with more vendors:

CCSSParticpiation-new

As you can see there have been a number of new Antivirus programs that have been added.   Some the ones that I like have been AVG,  [intlink id=”3884″ type=”post”]SuperANTISpyware[/intlink], [intlink id=”3778″ type=”post”]A-Squared on a USB Stick[/intlink],  and [intlink id=”3851″ type=”post”]Malwarebytes[/intlink].  As you can see once that one Techworld was published Several new Vendors came forward and wanted to get involved.   This is a great step for fighting Scareware because now we can have a list for people to go to for verification.   I hope we keep those fake Antivirus writers from defrauding innocent people out of there money.

[ad#SUPERAntiSpyware]

Security Researchers warn of potential flaws in Windows

Paul

I read an article today from Techworld. I wanted to Discuss this in detail. I also found some links that suggest that Techworld is right.

[ad#ad2-right]

Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle Network Security, speculated that the latest bugs were found by researchers using information disclosed in SMB fixes Microsoft released in October and November.[va Techworld]

According to my investigation, and I have been looking. I found a few SMB Vulnerabilities. One of them is CVE-2008-4835 and CVE-2008-4834. These two are capable of Remote Code Execution, and are Consider very High on the Impact list and all.

So Did people find these exploits or vulnerabilities from the last MS 08-067 patch? I would have to conclude it is a real possibility.

Although Microsoft did patch those holes this month.  I grow to wonder just how much these hackers keeping the IT professionals on there toes.    I hope people updated their system to prevent another worm because you don’t want the worm like Downadup Do you?  I am sure there will be a worm or a virus that will exploit this in time, and I think sooner or later someone will use this just like the other one.

Admins are shaking in there boots due to the Ms 09-001 Patch

Paul

I have to talk about this because this is a big deal.   According to Techworld and I’ll quote:

“This one scares me – a lot,” says Eric Schultze, CTO of Shavlik Technologies. “It is a lot like Blaster and Sasser. It is the same exploit vector. If I am an attacker and I can touch NetBios then I can execute code with no credentials.”

[via Techworld]

[ad]Now This is due to the fact of what is happening with an update that came a few months ago the MS 08 – 067 that still people haven’t patched their systems.  According to F-secure the Downadup/Conflicker has grown overnight by a million computers being infected.

Now why are they scared of the recent patch (MS 09-001), because of so many vectors of infection, you don’t need any credentials.  The virus  does not  need to know any passwords or user names to gain access.  Just like the Downadup variant that is hitting the internet right now, this virus tries to access accounts by guessing weak passwords or even putting itself on flash drives or other mobile media to get other systems infected.

So why are admins scared over this new patch?

Most  companies don’t patch there system as quickly as Microsoft would like them to.   You see most companies have quite a few computers depending on the size of the company it could be quite a lot.  So many in fact that it would have several IT personal just to keep the system going.
[ad]

So why don’t they just put the new patches on the systems?

Depending on the size of the company and what they do has a lot to do with them updating there systems.  Some use really special programs or have a network going that is vital.  Even the smallest update to the system could bring the network or the program down.  Most companies liketo test it out on test machine for a while to make sure that the patch doesn’t  prevent the business from doing business.   Here are a few articles that prove why companies do not want to just install patches automatically:

Some companies are using older systems like Windows ME or some older Windows Operating systesm.   Although there isn’t anything we can do about those because Microsoft has stopped supporting them with updates and all.  I know we are all thinking thesame question?

Is there a way to fix the problem with Windows Updates?

I personally don’t have an answer but I am sure hackers will find ways to exploit codes so they can get on your system so way.  I’ve recently read a story about Adware Author and now I understand even more about why people do all of this.

This is one of the questions every admin has to ask themselves?  How do we update all of the systems we are responsible for?  There are no easy answers to this.

Facebook: Virus Variant comes back from the dead!

Paul

In my recent post, I talked about a Virus that is circulating around on Facebook.  It is know as the Koobface virus and has been changed a little by the programers.   So I what is Techworld saying, just this:

[ad#ad2-right]

In fact, Koobface is now using one of Facebook’s own features against it, Lovet said. The latest variant uses Facebook’s ability to redirect web links to drive users to malicious websites, often hosted on Geocities.com, Lovet said.

[Via Techworld]

If you have been victim to this little virus, you should check out my Virus removal page and download the programs that should fix this little virus for good on your system.  You should also check out my Previous post I also have some good tips and tricks to prevent the user(YOU) from getting hit by this virus in the first place. This virus is a Good social engineered virus, so please be careful.

Apple’s Immunity, Botnet sanctuary.

Paul

Apple Immune? No way!

But is Apple projecting a false sense of security just to save face? Many experts repeatedly warn that all operating systems are susceptible to viruses, and as the Mac becomes more popular OS X will inevitably become a bigger target for malicious attacks.

[via Pcworld]

Having said that I feel the notion that Apple is trying to keep there reputation as a virus free system. I can only hope that they stay that way. Which as much as I know, Apple will most like start to be the main source for botnets, because of the lack of security.

[ad#ad2-right]According to reports on this blog, people are worried Apple stance on it being the safest and having so much immunity to viruses. Apple in the past has stated they have mislead people with there firewall. Yet Apple takes down that suggestion of having an Anti-virus(Quietly).

[ad#digg-left]Everything I’ve seen suggest that virus writers and Malware writers will MOST likely start targeting the Mac OS X, they know Apple sense of security is Vulnerable to attack and they will exploit it more and more. So what does that mean for Apple, it just means that soon every hacker who has a botnet will want a piece of the Apple Pie and is right now.

[ad#ad2-left]As PC Trojans go, the programming features of RSPlug.E look fairly basic. PC malware is more highly evolved and usually cleverer. But a programmer – probably a Russian – with knowledge of OSX had taken time to create a Trojan that hits Macs instead of PCs, James pointed out.


[via Techworld]

Which looks like it has already begun. So what can Mac users do, get an Anti-virus and maybe Apple will have to start backing down from the Virus commercials and actually admit it. Sooner or later someone will have to challenge Apple to get them to start admitting to it.