http://antivirus.foundnews.com virus, spyware, adware, and other malware news Wed, 01 Feb 2006 04:13:56 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 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. ... http://antivirus.foundnews.com/2006/01/31/nyxem-worm-starts-nixing-files/ 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 ... http://antivirus.foundnews.com/2006/01/31/trojan-tests-antivirus-response-time/ 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 ... http://antivirus.foundnews.com/2006/01/31/ms-to-omit-anti-virus-from-vista/ 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 ... http://antivirus.foundnews.com/2006/01/31/antivirus-vendors-collaborate-on-spyware-fight/ Happy patch Tuesday. One critical update released today, affecting Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 for Itanium-based Systems, Windows Server 2003 with SP1 for Itanium-based Systems, Windows XP Service Pack 1, Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows ... http://antivirus.foundnews.com/2005/11/08/november-patch-tuesday/ Virus writers have created a Linux worm which uses a recently discovered vulnerability in XML-RPC for PHP, a popular open source component used in many applications, to attack vulnerable systems. XML-RPC for PHP features in many web application including PostNuke, Drupal, b2evolution, Xoops, WordPress, PHPGroupWare and TikiWiki. Most of these applications ... http://antivirus.foundnews.com/2005/11/08/linux-worm-targets-php-flaw/ A team of I.T. staffers at the University of Indianapolis recently showed off a bundle of open-source tools and scripts it uses to trap and isolate PCs infected by viruses or spyware. Dubbed Shelob, after the sinister giant spider in J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings," the software identifies suspect traffic ... http://antivirus.foundnews.com/2005/11/08/school-takes-on-malware-with-open-source/ Last week was lots of fun if you work in Sony-BMG's PR department. First, there was the discovery that the latest Van Zant CD installed a bunch of malware without the user's permission. After a mountain of negative press and public pressure, Sony-BMG saw sense and issued a patch to ... http://antivirus.foundnews.com/2005/11/08/sonys-malware-drm-rootkit/ Over time, the computers inside air conditioners, refrigerators, televisions and automobiles will increasingly connect to cyberspace. This phenomenon also will open them up to the same attacks now threatening PCs, servers and databases. Are we as an industry prepared for such an assault? No. But Trend Micro executives last week said ... http://antivirus.foundnews.com/2005/11/08/bots-in-the-ac-spyware-in-the-fridge/ So, you have the best firewall, intrusion-detection and antivirus systems technology has to offer. Yet, despite your Fort Knox approach, you're still hit with security breaches and the occasional malware du jour. One reason for this may be the lack of motivation by your workers. Unlike owners, they don't have ... http://antivirus.foundnews.com/2005/10/18/addressing-the-human-security-vulnerability/