F-inSecure mailing list spreads Netsky-B virus
Print storyRed faces all round at AV outfit after 'human error'
Posted in Anti-Virus, 27th February 2004 18:28 GMT
Free whitepaper – Securing your Microsoft Internet Information Services (MS IIS) web server
Oh dear, oh dear. F-Secure's UK antivirus mailing list became the unwitting vector for the spread of Netsky-B worm this week after the AV vendor failed to stop an infected email from making it onto its security list.
F-Secure has apologised for the cock-up, which it blames on human error.
The Finnish-based firm's UK bulletin list was hit after the Netsky-B virus found its way from an infected machine somewhere in the US to the unmoderated list. The list goes out to F-Secure's customers and partners in Britain.
F-Secure pledged to take "immediate steps to change how messages can be sent to this list", in order to prevent any repetition of the security blunder.
The attack didn't affect the Finnish firm's internal systems. Even so the mistake is highly embarrassing - though far from unprecedented even among security firms.
In November 2002 Russian AV firm Kasperky Labs suffered similar discomfort when its mailing list was hijacked. As a result, thousands of subscribers to the list received copies of the Braid worm. ®
Related Stories
Netsky B is very pesky
Kaspersky mailing list hijacked!
How secure is CA's security mailing list?
Free whitepaper – Avoiding 7 common mistakes of IT security compliance
Airport insecurity: the case of lost laptops
Jump start your Application Security initiatives
Reducing messaging and web security costs with managed services
Avoiding 7 common mistakes of IT security compliance
Extended Validation SSL Certificates
Feds: Hospital hacker's 'massive' DDoS averted
Buggy 'smart meters' open door to power-grid botnet
Microsoft knew of nasty IE bug a year before attacks
BlockMaster SafeStick hardware-encrypted USB drive