The Lavasoft Support Forums have been deluged with daily cries of help from victims of the “Smitfraud” desktop hijackers that are using fake codec to infect their prey.

Watch out for the Zlob Trojan that poses as a codec needed to view a video, then installs a fake virus and urges its victims to download a rogue anti-spyware program to remove it. Lavasoft has also confirmed that this malware takes advantage of unpatched systems using exploits on web pages. Visit Microsoft Update to ensure that ALL of your critical Windows security pages are updated.

Other victims have been infected by a fake e-card greeting, or even a spoofed e-mail that claims to be Windows Update (Microsoft never sends updates via e-mail). Still more unassuming victims received an e-mail asking them to open a link to see the message (these can be fake e-mails, intended only to infect), or even a link from your ‘buddy’ in instant messages – but don’t trust it if you aren’t expecting it. Even your buddy could be infected without his/her knowledge and the virus on their computer is sending you the link with one purpose, and one purpose only – to infect you!

A few of the fake codecs out there include:
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News source: Lavasoft News

Security experts have discovered new spambot software that installs its own anti-virus scanner to eliminate competition, alongside a number of other sophisticated features.

SecureWorks has described the Trojan, which it calls SpamThru, in detail. Others vendors have come up with different names for the software. One of the signs of its sophistication though is that few anti-virus scanners are aware of it, SecureWorks said.

“SpamThru is a money-making operation, and the author takes great care to make sure that detection by the major vendors is avoided by frequently updating the code,” said SecureWorks’ Joe Stewart in the company’s analysis.

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News source: TechWorld.com

Windows Defender is a free program that helps protect your computer against pop-ups, slow performance, and security threats caused by spyware and other unwanted software. It features Real-Time Protection, a monitoring system that recommends actions against spyware when it’s detected and minimizes interruptions and helps you stay productive. Now with 2 free support incidents for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

Download: Microsoft Windows Defender (Free)
View: Windows Defender Homepage

China will blacklist the producers and distributors of spy software, or spyware, in a bid to safeguard Internet safety, Wednesday People’s Daily reported.

“The blacklist will be published regularly,” the Internet Society of China (ISC), an influential professional organization in China’s information industry, reportedly announced at a seminar on Tuesday.

The ISC would set up a team focusing on defining spyware, which would be responsible for reviewing, writing and publishing the blacklist.

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News source: CCTV.com

A survey of over 600 UK respondents showed that young men are significantly more likely to be infected with spyware than their female counterparts. Young males aged 18 to 29 are at the highest risk of being infected with spyware according to new research conducted by Webroot Software.

The likelihood of infection was increased by the risky online behaviour of young males, such as opening instant messages (66%), downloading files (65%) and visiting adult entertainment sites (56%). Young women, however, reported that their web browsing is limited to much safer activities, with over 91% stating they had never visited an adult entertainment site and 61% had never clicked on pop-up ads.

This survey follows the recent State of Spyware report issued by Webroot that found Britain to have the highest spyware infection rate within the EU. With an average of 30.5 pieces of spyware detected on every consumer PC and 89% of consumer PCs infected with some form of spyware, this is clearly a major threat to every user.

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News source: SecurityPark.net

FBI Director Robert Mueller on Tuesday called on Internet service providers to record their customers’ online activities, a move that anticipates a fierce debate over privacy and law enforcement in Washington next year.

“Terrorists coordinate their plans cloaked in the anonymity of the Internet, as do violent sexual predators prowling chat rooms,” Mueller said in a speech at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Boston.

“All too often, we find that before we can catch these offenders, Internet service providers have unwittingly deleted the very records that would help us identify these offenders and protect future victims,” Mueller said. “We must find a balance between the legitimate need for privacy and law enforcement’s clear need for access.”

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News source: News.com

It’s official: The problem of worms and viruses is “solved”–at least according to Symantec chairman and CEO John Thompson. The more relevant security threats today are phishing and fraud, as well as organized crime’s interest in stealing and reselling personal information, Thompson says. Not that Symantec will stop cashing checks made out to it for antivirus software. But the company’s “Security 2.0” strategy, detailed for the first time last week, tackles broader threats beyond its popular Norton PC security line, including database, E-mail, and identity-theft protection.

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News source: InformationWeek

Widespread worms, viruses or Trojan horses spammed to millions of mailboxes are typically not a grave concern anymore, security experts said at the Virus Bulletin conference here Thursday. Instead, especially for organizations, targeted Trojan horses have become the nightmare scenario, they said.

“Targeted Trojan horses are still a tiny amount of the overall threat landscape, but it is what the top corporations worry about most,” said Vincent Weafer, a senior director at Symantec Security Response. “This is what they stay up at night worried about.”

The stealthy attacks install keystroke-logging or screen-scraping software, and they are used for industrial espionage and other financially motivated crimes, experts said.

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Reports surfaced today of spam purporting to be from Dell, Walmart, Circuit City or Sony confirming an order for a Sony Vaio computer with a PDF attachment, but the attachment is, in fact, a very nasty piece of malware named Haxdoor. Text of email:

Quote:

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Subject: Order ID : 37679041

Dear Customer,

Thank you for ordering from our internet shop. If you paid with a credit card, the charge on your statement will be from name of our shop. This email is to confirm the receipt of your order. Please do not reply as this email was sent from our automated confirmation system.

Date : 08 Oct 2006 – 12:40
Order ID : 37679041
Payment by Credit card
Product : Quantity : Price
WJM-PSP – Sony VAIO SZ370 C2D T7200 : 1 : 2,449.99
Subtotal : 2,449.99
Shipping : 32.88
TOTAL : 2,482.87

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News source: Spyware Confidential

I’ve consciously refrained from weighing in on Symantec’s mounting efforts to fight back against Microsoft with Windows Vista.

The reason? I’ve been vacillating. When I see some of Symantec’s Vista complaints, I shout out (in my head, not on the streets of New York City, mind you): “Grow up, Symantec! Find something real to complain about!” (Not a feature that Microsoft fixed in a more updated test release.)

But in the next moment, I find myself nodding in agreement with Symantec’s claims that Microsoft is a monopolizing bully that needs more Neelie Kroes to push the company around.

Symantec’s latest complaints – which company officials are detailing to anyone who will listen this week — focus again on various security elements Microsoft is embedding in Vista, including the Windows Security Center, PatchGuard and Windows Defender.

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News source: All About Microsoft