VB Migration

Tag: virus

  • Throwback Thursday: I say Virus, You say Trojan

    This Throwback Thursday, VB heads back to 1998 — a time when anti-virus vendors avoided tackling non-replicating trojans, worms, jokes and corrupted files. Today, the idea of security vendors not tackling trojans or other forms of malware seems absurd, yet back in the 90s, anti-virus vendors argued that because, by definition, they developed anti-virus ,…

  • Macro malware on the rise again

    Users taught that having to enable enhanced security features is no big deal. When I joined Virus Bulletin almost eight years ago, macro viruses were already a thing of the past, like porn diallers or viruses that did funny things to the characters on your screen: threats that were once a real problem, but that…

  • Paper: Bird’s nest

    Raul Alvarez studies the Neshta prepending file infector. File infectors can be categorized by how they attach themselves to the host file. A cavity virus attaches itself to the available spaces in the host file; an appending virus attaches its code at the end of a file; and a prepending virus does so at the…

  • Attempted virus fumbles attack on F-Secure

    Flawed file-infector fails to frighten Finns. A highly buggy intended virus has been found to include an attempt to launch a DDoS attack on the websites of Finnish security firm F-Secure , alongside a suggestion that the firm’s head of labs Mikko Hyppönen needs a haircut. The flawed parasitic malware, which appears to have been…

  • Trivia

    Panda reveals country with lowest level of infected PCs. Panda Security has revealed that results from its online malware-scanning tool Nanoscan indicate that computers it scanned in the UK have a lower level of active malware (8.1%) than those it scanned in the rest of Europe and the Americas (ranging from 17.4% in Argentina to…

  • Fujacks/Panda virus authors sentenced, offered job

    Fujacks author put away for four years. Four men who were charged last month with writing, selling and spreading the W32/Fujacks virus and worm (a.k.a. the ‘Panda burning joss-sticks’ virus) have been sentenced in a Chinese court, with the self-confessed author of the virus being sent to prison for four years. But 25-year-old lead programmer…

  • Boot virus shipped on German laptops

    Aged malware installed on batch of Vista systems. A consignment of laptops from German manufacturer Medion , sold through German and Danish branches of giant retail chain Aldi , have been found to be infected with the boot sector virus ‘Stoned.Angelina’, first seen as long ago as 1994 and last included on the official WildList…

  • New worm spreading via Skype

    Multilingual malware posing as porn in chat messages. VoIP and chat system Skype has been targeted by another worm, sending chat messages to harvested contacts posing as links to pornographic images, which in fact download and install copies of the worm. The new malware has been variously dubbed ‘Pykspa.D’, ‘Skipi.A’, ‘Ramex.a’ and ‘Pykse.b’. The fake…

  • Four charged with writing Fujacks

    Malware authors and sellers appear in Chinese court. Four men have appeared in a public court in Hubei Province, China, charged with writing, selling and spreading the W32/Fujacks virus and worm, often referred to as the ‘Panda burning joss-sticks’ virus in reference to the icon marking infected files in some variants. The W32/Fujacks family of…

  • AV testing practices questioned

    Professional and amateur tests criticised. Last week, IT industry commentator and renowned anti-anti-virus writer Robin Bloor released a typically inflammatory article implying widespread corruption in anti-virus testing, suggesting that testing organisations within the industry are complicit in rigging test results to show AV products in a good light. This week, results of a supposedly independent…