From the Mind of Marc... » Security

Norton releases 2011 product betas

Marc — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:40:27 +0000

Norton recently released its 2011 line of products in their beta form, meaning they are available to people for free to test while they continue to develop and refine based on user feedback. You can read a more in-depth review from PC Magazine here: http://bit.ly/98ZVGp.

Windows Vista RTM and XP Service Pack 2 support ends soon.

Marc — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:52:00 +0000

Microsoft has announced that they will end support for Windows XP Service Pack 2 on July 13 and Windows Vista RTM (the original release without service packs) on April 13. You can find out which version you are running by right-clicking on My Computer (Computer in Vista) and left-clicking on Properties. You can download the latest service packs (SP3 for XP and SP2 for Vista) at www.microsoft.com.

Free way to avoid web-based malware.

Marc — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:58:20 +0000

AVG is now providing its LinkScanner product free to download. LinkScanner will scan web pages as you surf and warn you if a page you visit is trying to install malware or is compromised in some way. It’s a good idea to use it, considering that the web is the most popular way to deliver malware these days. You can read a quick overview of the product here and download it at http://linkscanner.avg.com. There is free support available from AVG at http://freeforum.avg.com.

One of Conficker’s purposes revealed….

Marc — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 21:21:56 +0000

It looks like all that updating Conficker did on April 1st and in the past few days had a reason: to push rogue anti-spyware software. According to several security software vendors, Conficker is dropping a program called SpywareProtect2009 on infected machines. The purpose of rogue anti-spyware programs is to scare users into paying for the software to clean up infections that the software itself has downloaded to the machine. Typically these programs will besiege the user with large pop-up windows proclaiming, in big red letters, that the computer is infected with hundreds of pieces of malware. If you receive any of these so-called warnings, don’t click on any of them. Run your security software (Norton, McAfee, Trend Micro, etc) to remove the threat. You can also go to any of the security vendors’ websites to get free removal tools for Conficker or any of the rogue anti-spyware programs. Check out our previous blog posts here for more information on Conficker and how to check for and remove it.

Conficker is alive.

Marc — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:13:46 +0000

It’s been in the news recently, and we’ve talked about it here in previous posts and newsletters. The Conficker worm came to life yesterday according to TrendLabs, Trend Micro’s blog. It apparently downloads a file from other infected machines via P2P, similar to how file and music sharing services like Limewire work. From the TrendLabs blog:

Trend now detects this new Conficker variant as WORM_DOWNAD.E. Some interesting things (well at least in our perspective) found are:

(Un)Trigger Date – May 3, 2009, it will stop running
Runs in random file name and random service name
Deletes this dropped component afterwards
Propagates via MS08-067 to external IPs if Internet is available, if no connections, uses local IPs
Opens port 5114 and serve as HTTP server, by broadcasting via SSDP request
Connects to the following sites:
- Myspace.com
- msn.com
- ebay.com
- cnn.com
- aol.com

It also does not leave a trace of itself in the host machine. It runs and deletes all traces, no files, no registries etc.

Read more: DOWNAD/Conficker Watch: New Variant in The Mix? - http://blog.trendmicro.com/downadconficker-watch-new-variant-in-the-mix/#ixzz0CBXDoaOb

If you think you might be infected, use the Conficker eye chart to confirm, and follow the PC Mag Security Blog steps to help remove it; or give us a call.

The Conficker Worm

Marc — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:00:34 +0000

A particularly nefarious piece of malware has been in the news a lot lately: Conficker. Also known as Downadup and the April Fools worm, it is very sneaky and difficult to detect. Fortunately, because of its popularity, there has been a lot of research done to figure out ways to stop it from spreading and to remove it from machines that have been infected. The easiest way to determine if you have been infected with Conficker is to use the Conficker eye chart (available here). Part of Conficker’s programming is to block access to well-known security software vendors’ websites, such as Symantec and Trend Micro. The “eye chart” has a legend that explains what you should see if you don’t have Conficker, and also what you see if you do have Conficker. If the chart appears normal, then you most likely haven’t been infected; if there are some images missing, then you probably have Conficker. Don’t panic though, it can be fixed. You can access a list of steps to remove Conficker here, or you can give us a call. Even if you don’t have Conficker, make sure you have the latest version of your preferred security software and that it’s up-to-date. We recommend Norton Internet Security 2009 (available here).

Happy April Fool’s Day

Marc — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 20:51:52 +0000

So April 1st is here, and the end of the world has not been brought about by the Conficker worm… as far as we know. However, Conficker is still around, and if you are not sure whether or not you have it, it’s better to be safe. PC Magazine has put together a checklist of steps to make sure your machine is not infected; it’s available here. If you just want to download the scanning and removal tools, you can get them from the Conficker Working Group site here. And make sure you have installed the latest Windows updates and any updates for your security software (you DO have security software right?!?!?).

PS- This is NOT an April Fool’s joke.

Macs attacked again… through pirated software.

Marc — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:57:23 +0000

A while back, Adobe was getting ready to release its Creative Suite 4. A pirated version of the software showed up on file-sharing networks, where a Mac version was available, and bundled with a Trojan horse. Unsuspecting users who installed it were immediately infected. In January, researchers found more malware in pirated versions of Apple’s new iWorks ‘09. And once again, pirated software for the Mac is being passed around embedded with malware. A good rule of thumb is that you should never install pirated versions of anything (on Windows or Macs) because it is illegal, and usually comes with malware.

Downadup = 4/1 (or: Conficker set to do something on April 1)

Marc — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:45:29 +0000

Conficker (also known as Downadup) is a pretty nasty worm that has three known variations (A, B, and most recently C). It gets onto your machine through a Windows security flaw that was patched in October of 2008, and is programmed to call a sequence of control servers for updates and presumably other nasty activities. Recently, Kaspersky Labs, a security software and research company, was able to figure out the list of names the worm would check for updates and teamed with OpenDNS to block these attempts. Now researchers are saying that the worm is programmed to do something on April 1. What that is, they don’t know; they only know that it is set to “call home” on that day. Fortunately, there are many ways to remove the worm if you’ve been infected. And as always, keeping your antivirus and antispyware software up-to-date and installing Windows updates will help protect your machine.

Reminder!!!

Marc — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:05:27 +0000

Over the past couple of months, I’ve seen a lot of machines infected with malware. In about 80% of the cases, I’ve had to completely reinstall Windows to clear up the problems. Not only is this time consuming (It takes 2-3 days depending on how busy we are) but it’s also expensive for the customer. So much can be avoided by running the latest internet security suite (I recommend Norton Internet Security 2009, available here) and keeping it up to date. If you think your machine is infected, run a scan using your security software. If you don’t think you’re running the latest version, you can do a free scan using Spyware Doctor (available from PC Tools here) or Trend Micro’s online scanning tool (on our website here, then click Free Tools). As always, if you have any questions or need help, just give us a call.