Articles about Anti-Virus
Trend, Sophos and McAfee flunk Vista SP1 anti-virus tests
Top tier anti-virus vendors including McAfee, Trend Micro, and Sophos all failed to secure Windows Vista SP1 in recent independent tests.
Virus Bulletin, the independent security certification body, said 17 of 37 anti-virus products tested failed to reach the VB100 certification standard. McAfee VirusScan, Trend Micro Internet …
Apple anti-virus advice was nothing new
One of the more famous Get a Mac ads boasted that Apple systems, unlike Windows boxes, didn't need anti-virus software. So when an article on an Apple support site encouraged the use of anti-virus software on Macs it seemed like news. In truth the article reiterated long-standing, though little publicised, advice from Apple. …
Swayze death exploited to serve up fake anti-virus
Miscreants have moved swiftly to establish malicious websites designed to rip off users searching for more information on the death of actor Patrick Swayze on Monday.
Black-hat search engine manipulation means that many sites that appear prominently in search engine results point to sites slinging fake anti-virus scanners. …
Twitter hit with rogue anti-virus scam
Twitter users over the weekend were the target of a scam that tried to infect them with rogue anti-virus software and other malware, in what is one of the first times the micro-blogging site has been hit by a known for-profit attack, a security researcher said.
The problem started after a flurry of tweets directed users to a …
Nasty holes found in Belkin's home automation kit
Insecure firmware handling, poor communications practises and API vulnerabilities are among a range of vulnerabilities security company IOActive has identified in Belkin's WeMo home automation systems.
In its advisory, here, IOActive says it's discovered that the systems leak a hard-coded key and password that Belkin uses to …
Antivirus update broke our interwebs, howl Win XP users
Thousands of Windows XP users were blocked from accessing the internet this week after they applied a misfiring antivirus update from Kaspersky Lab.
The issue affected both consumer and business versions of Windows XP. Vista or Windows 7 users were untouched by the snafu.
Even so, Kaspersky's support forums quickly filled up …
How to stop intruders without knocking out the workers
For a sysadmin, fighting malware feels like an uphill battle that you are never going to win.
Security software vendors are in a constant catch-up game, trying to create definitions to protect their customers from the latest round of malware. Sysadmins have the tough job of using their various security software and devices, …
Devs angrily dismiss Absolute Computrace rootkit accusation
Developers have denied accusations that their Computrace anti-theft software poses a remote wipe risk for the computers the program is designed to protect.
However security researchers at Kaspersky Lab are standing by their warning that Absolute Software's Computrace anti-theft technology poses a hidden threat that might be …
Hackers seed malware on Indian anti-virus site
Hackers planted malicious script on the site of an Indian anti-virus firm this week. The website of AVsoft Technologies was attacked by unidentified miscreants in order to distribute a variant of the Virut virus.
AVsoft Technologies makes the SmartCOP antivirus package. One of the download pages of the site was boobytrapped with …
Malware-flingers do it back-to-front : scaM snaps, spans Macs
Miscreants have brewed up an exceptionally sneaky strain of Mac malware that uses back-to-front trickery to disguise its true nature.
Janicab, which is written in Python, takes advantage of the right-to-left (RTL) U202E Unicode character to mask the malicious file’s real extension. The U202E marker applies a right-to-left …
QinetiQ mail virus patent attracts barbs
An anti-virus expert has poured cold water on a patent from British technology firm QinetiQ that supposedly offers a new technique for tackling malicious email attachments.
New Scientist reports that the researchers at the defence technology firm have patented a technique for blocking malware in email attachments without relying …
McAfee all-in-one security suite covers PCs, tablets, and smartphones
McAfee has launched an all-in-one cross-platform security suite for consumers that incorporates online storage through biometric authentication as well as a host of other security technologies. Equally importantly, the Intel security division is trying to shake up the way security software is sold to consumers.
The McAfee …
Microsoft's OneCare flunks anti-virus test
Microsoft's Live OneCare placed last in a test on the effectiveness of anti-virus security packages by Austrian researchers.
AV Comparatives put 17 security packages through their paces to see how well they recognised a battery of nearly half a million items of malware.
Winner G Data Security's AntiVirusKit (AVK) identified …
That time when an NSA bloke's son borked the ENTIRE INTERNET...
It's 25 years since the Morris Worm taught the world that computers were capable of contracting viruses.
The Morris Worm hit on 2 November 1988, spreading rapidly by exploiting vulnerabilities in sendmail, the email server software that was the most commonly used technology of its type at the time.
Many contemporary Unix …
Hackers crippled HALF of world's financial exchanges - report
Half of all the world's critical financial exchanges have suffered cyber attacks in the past year, a report has found.
A joint investigation by the World Federation of Exchanges and the International Organisation of Securities Commissions found that the attacks are increasingly aimed at destabilising markets, rather than making …
Microsoft launches anti-virus public beta
Microsoft has released a free beta of its upcoming anti-virus application.
According to Microsoft, the new anti-virus application known as Windows OneCare Live consumer beta is "like taking your PC in for a tune up at the service station". The release is part of the forthcoming Windows OneCare set of deliverables, and yesterday …
Keeping your endpoint data safe: some simple precautions
People are out to get you. Your business, your users, your systems and your data all have value to someone.
You could be targeted because you have something that someone specifically wants, or because attackers are hoping to find bank account details or email addresses to spam, or because they want your compute power for a …
Anti-virus suites still can't block Google China attack
The vast majority of consumer anti-virus products are still failing to block the Operation Aurora exploits used in the high profile attack against Google and other blue-chip firms last December, according to independent tests.
NSS Labs evaluated the effectiveness of seven popular consumer endpoint security products to see which …
Anti-spammers urged to gang up
The combined efforts of anti-spam products outperform any individual products alone, according to an experiment by Virus Bulletin, the independent security certification organisation.
In a comparative test, almost 200,000 sample emails were sent to 14 different anti-spam products that were required to filter out spam messages …
Fiendish CryptoLocker ransomware: Whatever you do, don't PAY
A fiendishly nasty strain of Windows malware that uses advanced encryption to lock up user files before demanding a ransom is doing the rounds.
CryptoLocker, which first surfaced early last month, leaves users in danger of losing important files forever unless they pay up. Typically the crooks relieve them of around $300 (£185 …
Your mouse may actually be a RAT in disguise
Security researchers have discovered a Trojan that attaches its malicious code to routines normally used only to control the inputs from mouse clicks.
The tactic is designed to smuggle malicious code past automated threat analysis systems. During such procedures there's no user input and certainly no mouse moving and clicking. …
False positives run amok in Vista anti-virus tests
The first independent tests of anti-malware products on 64-bit Windows Vista revealed a rash of false positives.
Of the 20 products submitted for testing to independent security certification body Virus Bulletin, six generated false positives when scanning a set of known clean files.
As a result, the product failed to earn …
Microsoft and FBI storm ramparts of Citadel botnets
The ZeuS-derived Citadel botnet, which rose to public prominence last year, is being progressively disabled by Microsoft and the FBI is on the hunt for its masters.
Microsoft says Citadel was used to raid bank accounts around the world and netted more than $US500m. Redmond's Digital Crimes Unit says 1,000 of the estimated 1,400 …
How do spooks build surveillance rigs? In Oz they TENDER for it
Australia's Federal Police force (AFP) has issued a tender for deep packet inspection (DPI) kit capable of processing data encapsulated by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute's ETSI 102 232 format for lawfully-intercepted communications.
Why does the AFP need to listen to telecoms intercepts? Aside from the fact …
Dodgy anti-virus update bunfight goes to court
Chinese anti-virus firm Rising Tech has hit back at claims by larger Russian rival Kaspersky that it engaged in anti-competitive practices. In response to a 2 July lawsuit, Rising Tech says that Kaspersky made "six serious mistakes" involving anti-virus definition files over the last two weeks, Interfax reports.
The …
Avira 'fesses up: Our software isn't compatible with Windows 8
Freebie anti-virus firm Avira has admitted its security software is not compatible with either Windows 8 or Windows 12 Server.
The German firm issued an advisory on Friday admitting its products would not be compatible with Windows 8 until the first quarter of 2013 after users complained that attempting to run Avira's software …
New ransomware strain forces hapless users into becoming Bitcoin miners
Scammers are punting a strain of ransomware that puts compromised PCs to work mining Bitcoins after blocking all other activity on infected Windows computers.
A new variant of the Reveton ransomware, spotted by researchers at Malwarebytes, locks a user out of their computer before running a Bitcoin miner. This means the …
Anti-virus hacking contest polarizes vendors
Security firms have split over the merits of a hacking contest aimed against anti-virus packages planned for August's Defcon conference.
Anti-virus firm Sophos reckons the exercise will serve only to increase the volume of malware in circulation, further taxing the resources of already hard-pressed security firms. However, net …
John McAfee tweets from BEYOND THE GRAVE: Drug binge death? Not me, mate
Antivirus software wild man John McAfee has joined Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen Mother, Fidel Castro, and poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge in receiving a premature obituary.
Internet rumours that surfaced on Tuesday falsely claimed the self-described “eccentric millionaire” and entrepreneur had died at the Palms Casino Resort in …
Symantec: Don't blame us for New York Times hack
Symantec has taken the unusual step of commenting on a story about a customer, issuing a robust statement denying its anti-virus products were to blame for sophisticated targeted attack on the New York Times.
The Gray Lady revealed yesterday that it had been persistently attacked for four months by China-based cyber insurgents. …
AVG: That World of Warcraft hack? RIDDLED with malware
A new cross-platform security product that covers desktops, smartphones and tablets is likely to be a key area of development for desktop freebie virus-scanner firm AVG during 2013.
AVG is best known for its free anti-virus scanner for Windows PCs, but over the years it has broadened its range to include more functional PC …
Cybercrooks spur anti-virus market growth
The anti-virus market will grow to reach $7.49bn by 2012, according to market analyst Frost & Sullivan (F&S). Last year, the market was worth $3.27bn.
Increasinlgy, Malware is written as a tool to obtain confidential user information by phishing fraudsters and the like. Greater awareness of this trends will drive enterprise and …
XSS flaws found in sites of multiple anti-virus firms
Security researchers have revealed that the websites of no less than six anti-virus firms are vulnerable to cross-site scripting flaws, of a type that might lend themselves to phishing attacks.
Some of the firms involved have admitted problems, while others say the issues raised have either already been fixed or are erroneous. …
Android's defences against malicious apps dissed by security bods
Google's bold claims that Android doesn't have a malware problem and is more secure than Apple's iOS have singularly failed to convince security researchers.
No less a figure than Eric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman, declared Android to be “more secure” than the iPhone, during the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo in Orlando, …
Use strong passwords and install antivirus, mmkay? UK.gov pushes awareness campaign
The UK government has launched a new campaign aimed at changing attitudes to online security among consumers and small businesses, dubbed Cyber Streetwise.
Cyber Streetwise is urging people to take five actions in order to protect themselves and others from cyber crime:
Use strong, memorable passwords
Install anti-virus …
Android apps get SSL wrong, expose personal data
More than 1,000 out of a sample of 13,000 Android applications analysed by German researchers contained serious flaws in their SSL implementations.
In this paper (PDF), the researchers from Leibniz University in Hannover and Philipps University of Marburg found that 17 percent of the SSL-using apps in their sample suffered from …
Security researchers plot revamped anti-virus tests
Security researchers are close to formulating plans to overhaul anti-virus testing amid growing concerns that current tests can be misleading.
Anti-virus packages are traditionally tested for their effectiveness in detecting a sample of malware packages known to be in circulation. Products that fail to detect a sample get a …
Malware still malingering for up-to-date anti-virus users
Having anti-virus software and keeping it up to date is no longer enough to keep from geting infected by malware.
A study by Panda Security revealed that 72 per cent of firms with up-to-date security software still had malware on their networks. The data - based on a sample of 1.5m users last year - also revealed that 23 per …
Avira antivirus patched but still not fully Windows 8 ready
Avira has rolled out a patch that makes its popular freebie anti-virus software more compatible with Windows 8.
Earlier this month the German firm admitted its products were not yet compatible with Windows 8 after users complained that attempting to run Avira's software on Microsoft's latest operating system results in the …
Trend withdraws from 'irrelevant' VB100 anti-virus test
Trend Micro plans to withdraw its software from the Virus Bulletin 100 (VB100) tests after criticising them a poor way of deciding how well security products defend against contemporary internet threats.
Virus Bulletin's VB100 tests aims to assess how security products fare in detecting a set of viruses from the WildList, an up- …
Old-school virus threatens Delphi files
Virus writers have gone old school with the creation of a virus that infects Delphi files as they are built.
When a Delphi file infected with Induc-A virus is run, it searches for Delphi programming installations on an infected machine and attempts to infect this installation. More specifically, the malware attempts to infect …
Late with your ransom payment? Never mind, CryptoLocker crooks will, er, give you a break
Crybercrooks behind the infamous file-encrypting CryptoLocker ransomware have begun offering a late payment option, which costs victim five times as much to "buy" the decryption key necessary to unscramble their encrypted files.
Previously, victims who failed to pay a $300+ ransom (up to 2 Bitcoins, $460) within three days would …
Anti-virus market hits $4bn
Worldwide anti-virus software revenues hit $4bn last year, 13.6 per cent up on sales from 2004. According to analyst firm Gartner, the market is almost evenly split between enterprise and consumer sales, with shares of 51.5 per cent and 48.5 per cent respectively.
Gartner reckons the consumer market for anti-virus software is …
Ex-anti-virus chief in spyware scareware scam charges
The ex-chief of a South Korea-based anti-virus firm has been charged with using bogus security warnings to shift anti-spyware software of questionable value.
Lee Shin-ja, 41, former CEO of Media Port, has been charged with fraud over the alleged distribution of bogus security software to almost four million internet users. …
Win 2000 anti-virus products fail independent tests
Many big-name anti-virus products failed to secure Windows 2000 in recent independent tests.
Seventeen out of 32 products tested - including packages from Trend Micro, Kaspersky, Norman and Sophos - failed to reach the standard required for VB100 certification. A total of 13 products failed to spot threats known to be …
AVG anti-virus stays free (true)
Users of a free version of GRISoft's AVG anti-virus software have begun receiving pop-up messages this week warning that their package would no longer be supported from 15 January.
This prompted concerns among a number of Reg readers that GRISoft was ditching the free version of its security software. Actually, the firm is …
Anti-virus scanner added to Google Gmail
Google has introduced an anti-virus scanning service to Gmail. Each time users send and receive attachments, Gmail will automatically scan them for viruses. It's unclear whether Google developed the technology in-house (highly unlikely) or licensed it from a security firm, much less who that firm might be.
Gmail previously …
US Labor Dept website serving malware to innocent visitors
The US Department of Labor's website has been hacked and malicious code stuck behind the scenes, security tools firm AlienVault says.
Since yesterday, the DoL site has been serving out malicious code that installs malware on unsuspecting users' computers, AlienVault's labs director Jaime Blasco told The Register.
The DoL said …
Fortinet settles anti-virus patent dispute
Fortinet has settled a long-running legal dispute with Trend Micro over its alleged infringement of Trend's patent for server-based anti-virus technology. Financial terms of settlement, announced Monday, were not disclosed.
As part of the deal, both firms agreed to dismiss US International Trade Commission (ITC) proceedings and …
Allchin backs away from Vista anti-virus claims
Outgoing Windows development chief Jim Allchin has apologised for the confusion he created in comments taken to mean Vista was so secure it might be possible to run the software without any anti-virus installed.
Responding to questions from reporters about whether Vista would be more secure than Windows XP SP2, Allchin said his …
