Operators' Reliance Solely on Anti-Virus Solutions Puts Consumers in Danger of Attacks

Cloudmark, Inc., the global leader in carrier-grade messaging security, today warns that service providers are placing e-mail users at risk by continuing to ignore sophisticated virus propagation techniques. Attackers are moving beyond traditional tactics, such as sending messages with virus executables attached or virus-infected documents, to employing hybrid attacks that combine elements of both spam and viruses. In these attacks, malware authors embed links in informative or advertising e-mails. Recipients are enticed to follow these links to a Website that hosts the malware, which could be a virus, worm or Trojan.


These advanced threats embed anti-spam and anti-virus (AV) evasion techniques with the objective of eluding both spam and traditional AV filters. Most spam filters are not capable of catching these highly mutable threats because they do not follow the recurrent, mass e-mail tactics commonly found in spam. Likewise, conventional AV solutions bypass these messages as they appear to be spam or phishing. As these attacks become the norm, Cloudmark urges operators to re-examine their anti-virus strategies and ensure that their messaging security processes are capable of detecting these hybrid threats.

Posted by Justin Payton in Adware, Spyware and Trojans at 16:22

Computers increasingly being infected by fake antivirus products, according to PandaLabs

SEPTEMBER 4, 2008 | GLENDALE, Calif. -- Panda Security, a leading provider of IT security solutions, today announced that PandaLabs, Panda Security’s laboratory for detecting and analyzing malware, has noted an increase in cyber-crooks’ use of malware under the guise of fake antivirus products to defraud users. These applications, classified as adware by PandaLabs, pass themselves off as antivirus utilities and often appear on the Internet as free downloads. Alternatively, they can be concealed in other files downloaded by users, including music or video files.

Once on a system, they often operate as follows: they tell the user (who is often unaware that the application is on their system) that a virus has been detected. They then invite them to buy the full version of the antivirus to disinfect the computer (you can see an example of these fake antivirus programs here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/panda_security/2678703471/).

Posted by Justin Payton in Adware, Spyware and Trojans at 12:03