Come February 3rd, owners of Nyxem-infected Windows machines will be in for a rude shock. On that day, the bug is programmed to overwrite several common file types.
But today, the team at computer security vendor F-Secure is alerting the community that reports of the bug’s dangerous payload are trickling in. Users with incorrect time settings are already seeing their Office files, PDFs, e-mail archives and compressed folders getting corrupted.
A Trojan writer has been testing the response times of antivirus companies with malware that has been spammed out to over two million web users.
Managed security provider BlackSpider Technologies estimated that more than 2.4 million emails containing the Win32.small.cfg Trojan downloader were sent to UK businesses last night.
The malware was sent out in emails claiming to be about an unpaid invoice for a firm in Nottingham.
Microsoft will omit anti-virus protection in Vista, the next version of Windows, which it plans to ship late this year. As with previous versions of Windows dating back to Windows 2000 at least, Redmond is promoting Vista as a landmark improvement in Windows security.
Jim Allchin, co-president of Microsoft’s platform products and services division, told reseller magazineCRN that safety and security, improved user experience, and mobility features will be key additions in Vista. But there will be no anti-virus software, the Windows development supremo said during a questions and answers session with CRN. For unspecified business (not technical) reasons, Microsoft will sell anti-virus protection to consumers through its OneCare online backup and security service.
A group of security vendors has announced an agreement under which they will work together to establish industry standards for identifying and evaluating antispyware products.
The group, which includes McAfee, Symantec, Trend Micro, ICSA Labs, and Thompson Cyber Security Labs, wants to create standard metrics and common samples of spyware programs that third-party testers can use when evaluating antispyware tools.
The goal is to make it easier for companies to compare and evaluate antispyware products at a time of considerable market confusion over various offerings said David Cole, director of Symantec’s security response group. “In the antivirus space, there are several well-known testing bodies and testers who follow standards and well-thought-through methodologies” for evaluating products, he said.
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