Virus Information News

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Sober virus scares up child-porn confession

securityfocus.com

by Robert Lemos

December 23, 2005

A 20-year-old German man turned himself in to authorities after receiving a copy of the mass-mailing virus, which arrives attached to an e-mail message claiming that law enforcement is investigating the recipient.

The Sober.X, also known as Sober.Y, virus attempts to fool computer users into running the malicious program by attaching itself to an e-mail that seems to come from the FBI or its German counterpart, known as the Federal Criminal Investigation Office or Bundeskriminalamt (BKA). The message implies that the law enforcement agency is investigating the recipient and asks the user to open up an attachment and answer questions. In reality, the attachment is the Sober virus, which quickly takes control of the victim's PC to send more copies of itself, said Mikko Hyppönen, chief research officer for antivirus firm F-Secure.

FTC: Computer users seeing less spam; law helped

computerworld.com

by Grant Gross

December 20, 2005

While the CAN-SPAM Act has helped the FTC and law enforcement agencies fight spam, computer users are seeing less spam largely because they're using blocking software and services, the agency reported today.

The antispam law, called the CAN-SPAM Act, has provided the FTC and law enforcement agencies a new weapon to fight spam, but much of the reason computer users are seeing less spam is because they're using blocking software and services, said the FTC in a 116-page report to Congress. The volume of spam seems to be leveling off, and blocking technologies are keeping most spam messages away from inboxes, the FTC said. "The e-mail landscape has changed significantly, largely for the better," the report said. "In essence, these developments suggest that spam has not, as once feared, destroyed the promise of e-mail." Some in the technology community have questioned

Hackers Break Into Computer-Security Firm's Customer Database

Washington Post

by Brian Krebs

December 19, 2005

Guidance Software -- the leading provider of software used to diagnose hacker break-ins -- has itself been hacked, resulting in the exposure of financial and personal data connected to thousands of law enforcement officials and network-security profession

Guidance alerted customers to the incident in a letter sent last week, saying it discovered on Dec. 7 that hackers had broken into a company database and made off with approximately 3,800 customer credit card numbers. The Pasadena, Calif.-based company said the incident occurred sometime in November and that it is working with the U.S. Secret Service on a more detailed investigation. Michael G. Kessler, president of New York City-based computer-forensics investigative firm Kessler International, received a letter notifying him that the company's American Express card was among those compromised by the attackers. Kessler received the notice from Guidance at the same time that a company credit-bill arrived with what he said were $20,000 in unauthorized charges for pay-per-click advertising at Google.com.

Trend Micro: RSS Is Worm Bot's Next Target

eweek.com

by Ryan Naraine

November 29, 2005

An anti-virus research engineer warns that the growth of RSS and the coming Internet Explorer 7 browser refresh will provide a lucrative target for bot worm attacks.

Security researchers at Trend Micro Inc. have pinpointed RSS (Really Simple Syndication) technology as a lucrative target for future bot worm attacks. David Sancho, senior anti-virus research engineer at Trend Micro, warned that RSS feed hijacking will become commonplace when Microsoft Corp. ships Internet Explorer 7, a browser refresh that will feature built-in RSS support. In a white paper titled "The Future of Bot Worms," Sancho said the IE7 release "will open some interesting possibilities to worm creators."

Cybercrime now bigger than the drug trade

The Sydney Morning Herald

by Reuters

November 29, 2005

Global cybercrime generated a higher turnover than drug trafficking in 2004 and is set to grow even further with the wider use of technology in developing countries, a top expert said on Monday.

No country is immune from cybercrime, which includes corporate espionage, child pornography, stock manipulation, extortion and piracy, said Valerie McNiven, who advises the US Treasury on cybercrime. "Last year was the first year that proceeds from cybercrime were greater than proceeds from the sale of illegal drugs, and that was, I believe, over $US105 billion [$A143 billion]," McNiven told Reuters.

Sony BMG Rootkit Lawsuits

sonysuit.com

by Mark Lyon

November 20, 2005

Mark Russinovich analyzed the behavior of the software contained on some Sony music CDs in his blog entry of October 31, 2005 . His posting pointed out that the poor programming practices at First 4 Internet, the company responsible for the creation of th

Class Action Suits, Small Claims Court cases and other information linked from this site.

Breplibot Stinx

f-secure.com

by F-Secure

November 11, 2005

There are variants of Breplibot (aka Stinx aka Ryknos) trying to hide under the cloak provided by the Sony DRM software. However, none of the variants we have so far analyzed are successful in installing on a machine that has an unpatched Sony DRM running

We wouldn't like to say "we told you so" but unfortunately this is one of those times you just have to do it. We have just analyzed the first malware (Breplibot.b) that is trying to hide on machines that have Sony DRM software installed. Luckily, the bot has a design flaw. If the Sony DRM rootkit is active (hiding) in the system during infection, the bot will not run at all. Moreover, the bot cannot survive a reboot because of a programming error. In any case, this is a very good example of why software should not use rootkit hiding techniques.

Sony to stop making "rootkit" CDs

securityfocus.com

by SecurityFocus

November 11, 2005

Beleaguered Sony BMG will temporarily suspend the manufacture of CDs protected with technology from First 4 Internet and re-examine its copy-protection strategy, the media giant said on Friday.

The company has been widely criticized by consumers, security experts and digital-rights advocates for the surreptitious copy-protection programs that Sony BMG CDs install on consumers' computers. Digital-rights advocates and consumer attorneys are preparing nearly a half dozen legal actions against the music giant. While the company is re-evaluating its inclusion of the Extended Copy Protection (XCP) technology produced by U.K.-based First 4 Internet, the company stood by its right to protect its music.

Hackers use Sony DRM software to hide Trojan

fergdawg.blogspot.com

by Paul Ferguson

November 10, 2005

A computer security firm said on Thursday it had discovered the first virus that uses music publisher Sony BMG's controversial CD copy-protection software to hide on PCs and wreak havoc.

When recipients click on an attachment, they install malware, which may tear down the firewall and gives hackers access to a PC. The malware hides by using Sony software that is also hidden -- the software would have been installed on a computer when consumers played Sony's copy-protected music CDs.

Sophos develops Sony DRM removal tool

fergdawg.blogspot.com

by Paul Ferguson

November 10, 2005

UK security firm Sophos plans to release a tool which will detect the existence of Sony's DRM copy-protection rootkit on Windows computers, disable it, and prevent it from re-installing.

The move follows the discovery of the first malware (a Trojan called Breplibot) that takes advantage of Sony-BMG's use of rootkit technology in DRM software bundled with its music CDs to mask its presence on infected systems.

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