What is a Virus and Why do I have one
After seeing more and more the updates coming from the net. I wanted to talk about what a Computer Virus or Trojan is and how you get it. So how did you could of gotten a Virus in the first place. So here are some information to consider:
The vulnerability of operating systems to viruses
So what does that mean to you? Most of the times when you get a virus you have a vulnerability in some place in your Operating system and it is either something that has not be known by Microsoft, Apple, and Linux or is know as a Zero-day Exploit.
A zero-day (or zero-hour) attack or threat is a computer threat that tries to exploit unknown, undisclosed or patchfree computer application vulnerabilities. The term Zero Day is also used to describe unknown or Zero day viruses.
[Via Wikipedia]
This is one of the most used because if it is an unknown exploit by the Operating System creators then they have a longer to us the exploit. Most of the time hackers like to use this because that means there is a possibility of finding even more vectors to infect other systems. You see if they can get on one system they can then find ways to get on other systems.
sinowal.trojan Problems.
Comments Off
Trojan-PSW:W32/Sinowal.CP drops and loads a password stealing component on the infected system and tries to steal account information from it. It also tries to steal information that is required to access certain online banks’ and online payment systems’ websites.[via F-secure]
This are the beginning steps to get rid of a Virus but it will be a really hard virus because it wants to stay in your system. You should also Restart in Safe mode and Try to remove that virus that one. You will also want to disable your system restore due to the fact that it will be in there and might come back if you restore your system. Just some simple tips to help keep you safe on the net.
Not so, Antivirus2008
Comments OffOK, so let’s say the user (by some stroke of luckless chance, or courtesy of a trojan downloader) ends up with the demo installer of Rogue:W32/VirusRemover2008.C on their hands and it runs
[via F-Secure]
According to them, they have many different version of this rogue antispyware. They have de, dk, es, fr, it, no, nl, and no, which are all attempting for you to buy this no so Virusremover2008 software. They talk about how it tells you have a 9 infected viruses and that you need to remove them, but in truth, they use a text file to create this lie. Check out all the details for further information.
How to disable autorun the easy way!!!
Comments OffI read a report from Cnet about USB devices spreading Virus and I will quote:
The bad guys are intentionally developing new flavors of malware designed to propagate through USB devices,” said Gunter Ollmann, chief security strategist for IBM’s ISS security division. “They are today’s floppy drives.”
An infected computer can spread a virus to a clean USB thumb drive that is inserted. That USB drive will then be spreading the virus onto other computers if the operating system on those machines has an AutoRun-type feature enabled. The AutoRun function in Windows launches installers and other programs automatically when a flash drive or CD is inserted. The Mac has an equivalent function, according to Ollmann.[Via Cnet]
In order to disable “autorun“, which in Vista is called Autoplay. In order to disable Autoplay from starting when you insert media into your computer here is how you do it:
You will need to be Logged in as Administrator before this can be done:
Next click start and type “Autoplay” without quotes. It will bring up a screen but all you have to worry about is this:
Vista has a new Vulnebility!
Comments OffAccording to Techworld.com, Vista has a new Vulnerability that could let a hacker infect a Vista machine with a rootkit. The talk from them is quite intriguing. I will quote it to better let you know what the Vulnerability is:
The vulnerability could allow a hacker to install a rootkit, a small piece of malicious software that is very difficult to detect and remove from a computer, Unterleitner said.
Phion notified Microsoft about the problem on 22 October. Microsoft indicated to Phion that it would issue a patch with Vista’s next service pack. Microsoft released a beta version of Vista’s second service pack to testers last month. Vista’s Service Pack 2 is due for release by June 2009.
[via Techworld.com]
The way they could do this is through the Device IO Control which in turn could corrupt the Kernel of Windows Vista. Now we all know that Microsoft will release a patch quicker than 6 months away. According to this article, people are already looking for the exploit and want to know more about it. I would be willing to bet they will have a patch out sooner than later. Probably January or Febuary, which will be a big deal because no one will expect it. I would also imagine hackers will start trying to figure out how they could install software as quick as possible before Microsoft pushes out the patch. So what can you do to protect yourself, Get a firewall, a Antivirus and learn how to protect yourself to prevent yourself from getting a computer virus.
