Much of the malware problem the past year has been rougue malware applications installed by the zlob trojan. There are too many to list. Among the popular ones have been SpyDawn, Virusburst, SpyAxe, SpySheriff, WinFixer and SmitFraud.

The latest in this long line is System Live Protect. Like the others, it looks very much like a legitimate application. Even a Microsoft application in this case. However, it reports greatly exaggerated or false system reports and warnings in an effort to entice the user to purchase a “registered version” that will remove the alleged threats.

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An astute Windows user was intrigued by the holographic image on the face of the Windows Vista Business DVD and decided to take a much closer look, discovering in the margin a microscopic photograph of three men. Just who they could be? The user posted a blog entry mentioning the discovery, which was noticed by a few others in the community and has prompted a number of people to contact us in Windows to find out just exactly what is going on.

The real story is interesting, but conspiracy theorists will be disappointed to learn that it is not the result of a deliberate attempt to deceive. The photo displays members of the team who worked on the Windows Vista DVD hologram design. Microsoft’s Anti-Piracy Team designed a counterfeit-resistant digital “watermark” for the non-encoded surface of Windows Vista DVDs. The photo in question is only one of multiple images contained in the hologram design, all of whose inclusion serves to make it more difficult to replicate a Windows Vista DVD. The other images are of old master works of art that are in the public domain. These images are part of numerous other security measures that have been designed into our media, packaging and certificates of authenticity. Hence, even though this image has been reproduced on the Web, there are many other features providing further security.

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