ANTIVIRUS
NEWS, UPDATES, INFORMATION
12/29/2005
NOD32 ANTIVIRUS OF ESET FREE FROM FLAWS, ANTICIPATES THREATS
While it
may take some time for Symantec, McAfee, and others to retain customer
confidence, another company, ITES, has an antivirus software, NOD32
that seems to perform one step better. It uses "ThreatSense" technology
wtih advanced heuristics to actually take proactive actions and defend
against spyware, malware, and other threats. Most anitvirus softwares
need to be continuosly updated to receive new virus definitions before
they can act. This often leaves systems with a security gap.
Virus Bulletin
has extensively tested this product and given it more awards than any
other software for not missing a single 'in the wild' virus. Wild virus
list is used to test the efficacy of a software in protecting a system
from new, unknown threats in the real world, as against lab collected
and maintained viruses.
12/24/2005
SYMANTEC SECURITY FLAWS
Symantec
initially denied, and later admitted to a flaw in a majority of their
antivirus softwares - enterprise and consumer - that could allow a virus
to run on a seemingly protected computer.
The flaw
relates to buffer flow - a very common technique used by virus writers
- in the engine that receives virus updates. The latest versions of
Symantec are NOT vulnerable to such attacks, said Tim Hartman, senior
technical director for Symantec Asia Pacific.
Another
recent flaw discovered allowed a virus to disable the real time scanning
feature of the consumer products.
The flaw
is reported to occur in Norton Antivirus, Norton Internet Security Professional,
Norton System Works, Norton Personal Firewall, as well as recent versions
in Symantec's line of antivirus software for Macintosh and handhelds.
Experts
said a specially engineered RAR file containing a virus or other malicious
program could infiltrate a user's computer. Once that happens, attackers
have carte-blanche access to the system and can take complete control
over computers on which their programs have been downloaded.
12/21/2005
SOBER WORM CODE HAS BEEN CRACKED
The Sober
worm code was cracked in May, 2005 by F-secure, but the company kept
it as a secret. The worm used to receive updates after which it would
infect a large number of systems. The worm was first detected in 2003.
Last year it accounted for the biggest chunk of the infected systems.
The worm
used a unique strategy to download codes and attack the hosting systems.
The worm used new url names using a date algorithm. The attacker would
know which url would beactive in the worm. He would just regster the
new url, upload his code, and all the systems with the worm would get
attacked.
The firm
has cracked the date algorithm to know which urls would be used to download
the codes. All these sites can then be blocked in advance.
12/19/2005
ANTISPYWARE COALITION GETS A NEW MEMBER
The maker
of AVG antivirus software is the latest member to Anti-Spyware Coalition
(ASC) whose aim is to educate the public and fight the menace of spywares
that steal valuable data and information by hiding in innocuous programs
downloaded over the internet. The ASC members include anti-spyware software
companies, academics, and public policy and consumer groups.
Grisoft
makes antivirus softwares since 1991 and has won awards. Its system
is used by over 25 million users around the world, news agencies report.
12/14/2005
SYMANTEC
DEVELOPS HISTOGRAM BASED ANTIVIRUS TECHNOLOGY
Marketwire
has reported a new antivirus technology developed by the world leader
in antivirus software products, Symantec. The technology is called histogram
based malware code detection. The new patent granted to Symantec helps
to accelerate the detection of all types of malwares such as viruses,
trojans, adwares, and spyware.
The new
technology is being used in most of Symantec products and was developed
by Carey Nachenberg.
Mark Bregman,
chief technology officer, Symantec says that this new patent puts Symantec
again at the forefront of antivirus detection industry, which is "fundamental
for protecting individuals and businesses."
Histogram
based technology is being considered significant for detection of complex
malicious codes. The new histogram bases antivirus software would refer
to a list of prioritized code behaviouf for detecting any imminent threats.
Symantec
is based in California, and has operations in over 40 countries worldwide.
It is the preferred software company used by Windows systems.