PDF Exploits and how to prevent them

Now we know that there are PDF Exploits being used more and more to fake anti virus software. I am here to discuss how to make it harder for these exploits to happen in the first. So I will be walking you through using Firefox as the browser, so if you haven’t downloaded Firefox. I would recommend downloading it, it is much safer than using Internet Explorer.

In Firefox, Click Tools, and then Options:

You will look for anything that says Adobe in the Applications tab and select either Always ask or Save file.   I recommend setting it to “Always Ask” for the one reason you will know if you have visited a site that uses PDF’s, it gives you a warning of when some website tries to uses Adobes PDF reader.

I also go into Adobe Reader:

Click Edit>Preferences

Disabling Javascript will help prevent some of the more common exploits in Adobe, and anyway I do not need Javascript enabled to read a PDF because I hate flashing stuff while I am trying to read.

JSRedir-R/Gumblar The underlying problem!!

Some people have made comments about there website being hosted to Malware injection into there site.  I’ve been seing a Lot of talk about JSRedir-R/Gumblar found to be the biggest malware threat on the Web.  They estimate that it is 42% of infected websites to be carrying this malware threat, last week.  I have heard some think it is weak login creditals.

See the Graph from Sophos about the percentage.  I also wanted to tell people how to identify if you have the infection or not.  This is very important to check because people are letting this Malware spread and all.  

I on the other hand think the way this is spreading is a Cross Site Scripting vulnerability for these websites but there are a few websites that do keep your login cache on your system.   I would recommend if your a web site owner to have your cache deleted everytime you exit your web browser.   This should in theory help prevent Cross Site scripting and Website owners should also either buy Anti-virus and Firewall software or install the Free version to better protect your website.

Just Google Conficker and you’d be surprise

Countdown to March First is on it’s way or already depending on your location and People have been sending tweets about the 60 Minutes coverage of the Conficker:

As you can tell over the last week Google trends is showing a mountain of people looking for this information.  I am so glad the media has talked about this but it has mad a hysteria or frenzy of people trying to find information on this little worm or some are calling a virus.

Now I must remind you that Conficker.a, Conflicker.B, Conficker.C, and Conficker.D are the only worms or viruses out there and that you should really protect yourself from every virus because there are more viruses or worms out there than this one.

There are several Free Anti-virus options Available:

• Clamwin — I’ve been trying this one out over the past month and it seems to work just as good as the others.
• Avast Home Edition — AVG does better than this one but people seem to like this so I have to add this for people who like this better than the others.

PolyMorphic Win32:Vitro Most Viraulent Virus

This seems to be an virus that is getting some people hit hard.   I wanted to blog about this because of the nature of Virus and Trojans.   I have read reports that this might be from Online Movies, and I have to say this is one reason why you must stay away from certain online movies.  I am going to take a guess that this virus requires a special CODEC, and you downloaded it and installed it.  It Could also be the update the Adobe Flash player idea to but still results in getting the Virus.

As I said before you take a risk when you go to sites you don’t trust or know anything about.   You also should know that if you need a “SPECIAL” codec, you should just go on to another site.  These sites that claim they need this special codec means only one thing they want to install something without your Knowledge.

So what is this Virus:

The Virut family of viruses uses polymorphism to hide from all anti-virus protection, it infects executable files. File infection makes it very hard to repair a system that has been infected. W32/Vitro injects code in running processes and hooks the following functions in ntdll.dll which transfers control to the virus every time any of these function calls are made.

Understanding Adsense for the Beginner

So you have a website and you’d like the site to pay for itself. That can be arranged it however depends on your website performance. You see you won’t make a lot of money if you don’t have several things going for you. I thought I share with you my experience with making money through Adsense. As you saw, I made enough money to pay for the website for 5 years. It isn’t hard to make money it is however very difficult to keep getting the money. Most people don’t know the tricks to making money with Google’s Adsense.

I’m here to help you out a little with understanding it and getting even more money from your adsense.   So here we are 3 months into to putting Adsense seriously on my site and let’s take a look shall we:

Offline Update 5.0, Clone of Autopatcher to Some!!

Offline updater 5.0 has been released a couple months ago and I just realized it now.  This is an excellent tool for IT professionals who want to keep all your Systems up-to-date with the last patches from Microsoft.  The systems it supports are Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 x64, And Windows Vista / Server 2008.(32 bit and 64 Bit updates).

I find this a very useful program for people who have a multitude of problems, from not being able to get on the net to computer virus infections.  This is really good for big businesses that want to update a lot of systems in easy way without having to wait for downloads of updates to install.   You can take a DVD and update on the fly within Mins.   DVD being Cheap or buying them in bulk helps saves time and money for the company.   Less time spent downloading the updates and more time actually getting work done.  As with the Conflicker, Downadup, and to some the Conflickr Trojan, if you got infected with that little worm.  This would help install the updates that it prevented you from doing in the first place.  I also found that once you download do the update the files are kept on the hard drive so you no longer have to redownload them again.  You just update the updates every second Tuesday of the month and it downloads the newest patches and creates a whole new ISO for you to burn.

IE vulnerability in the Wild

Well this was bound to happen, hackers found this vulnerability and is using it for their own purposes. 

It seems they put a virus on your system.  Microsoft has issued an Recommendation and to check out Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-055.

“What we’ve seen from the exploit so far is it stealing game passwords, but it’s inevitable that it will be adapted by criminals,” he said. “It’s just a question of modifying the payload the trojan installs.”

Said Mr Ferguson: “If users can find an alternative browser, then that’s good mitigation against the threat.”

[Via BBC News]

I personally like to recommend a program that will do a better job at security and that is Firefox,  I also suggest people use the Thunderbird and not Microsoft mail program.  This will greatly reduce your likely hood of getting a virus or Trojan.   Most of the time hackers like to find new ways to infection to get into your system.  If you want to preven having a virus in the future, I’d recommend going to my Malware Resource and check out a good firewall and anti-virus.   This will prevent you from getting some of the viruses and other types of malware.

Upcoming Patch Tuesday

I wanted to get prepared for the updates for this Tuesday and I thought I’d go through them and list what Microsoft said about each.   These are what’s been said on Technet and I am sure there will be more.   Each one of these don’t look to serious but I will post Tuesday if there is anything I’ve missed on this post.   As you might know this is not set in stone but just the direction of Microsoft for this Months Release.

KB955839

Update for Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP

Install this update to resolve an issue that is caused by revised daylight saving time laws in many countries. This update enables your computer to automatically adjust the computer clock on the correct date in 2008. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer. This update is provided to you and licensed under the Windows Server 2008 License Terms.

KB957388

Update for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista

Install this update to resolve a set of known application compatibility issues with Windows Server 2008. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.