Slashdot Mirror
Top Viruses, Worms and Malware in 2006
An anonymous reader writes "HNS is running an article with a list of those malicious codes which, although they may not have caused serious epidemics, stood out in one way or another. Some of the categories are: the biggest snooper, the most moralistic, the worst job applicant and the most tenacious. From the article: 'The most competitive. Once the Popuper spyware has installed itself on a computer, it runs a pirate version of a well-known antivirus application. Far from trying to do the user a favour, it is actually trying to eliminate any possible rival from the computer. It seems that the fight for supremacy has also reached the world of Internet threats.'"
From TFA:
-The most promiscuous. This title goes without doubt to Gatt.A. This malicious code can infect any platform that it is run on: Windows, Linux, etc.
Syllable 0.62 is here at last!!!
Apparently it only works properly on Windows... http://www.pandasoftware.com/com/virus_info/encycl opedia/overview.aspx?lst=det&idvirus=122900&sitepa nda=particulares
:wq
Well, the GP said the spyware "monitors whether users access certain web pages with pornographic content". Sexual matters being involved, the expression "voyeuristic tendencies" is appropriate. If I want to know what kind of motor my neighbor has in her car, I'm being "curious", if I want to know what kind of panties she's wearing, then I'm a "voyeur".
/raises glass
.exe
That one that warns of "your pc is infected with malware" from system tray, known some places as smitfraud others as VX2, now uses several hundred reinfection methods, from infected active script desktop images, to the old favourite, making itself the default program to open files of type
In fact, all those tricks you list are used by one version or the other (or if you are unlucky and get the latest updated version, all of them).
Faster now just to backup data, format and re-install than try and debug each and every method used by the particular version you have, I have tried auto remove tools, all of them end up out of date less than 24hrs after launch (someone is making enough from this thing that paying lots of money to a few programmers is not a problem).
The pay-off is of course when the user clicks that task bar balloon and it installs the "protection racket" software of choice onto your PC, which says it found 4366724 virus' and spyware, and to please pay them for a full licence to remove them. Of course if you pay them, it does NOT remove even its own malware, at least yesteryears organised crime DIDN'T break stuff if you paid.
The real kicker is, the 3-4 times I have seen it infect a pc (had user, on a fresh pc, do what they did when it first happened) it was through an IE "unpatched code execution" bug of the week.
When I tell people to use firefox, and then pre-install it on their new PC/repair, do they think it is a joke?
...
"I notice there's no mention of ANY of the Apple viruses/worms or malware out there"
. shtml
Where are the reports of thousands of OS X desktops being compromised and bank accounts being emptied.
http://www.macobserver.com/editorial/2003/08/29.1
was Re:A bit of bias from the press?
davecb5620@gmail.com
I see a lot of machines with multiple infestations, but I rarely rebuild 'em.
.DLLs (hint: sort the list by Manufacturer)
My usual algorighm:
Start up in Safe Mode
Use AutoRuns.exe to identify most of the offenders; delete those that don't self-reinstall
Open IE and then System Information; look at Loaded Modules to find the vx2
Boot to Windows PE; back up and load the Software and System hives & clean them up; do the same with the user hive(s)
Boot into Windows and check for stragglers.
Lots of fun, especially for $1.25/minute.
For anyone who wants to see the original article, which is without ads, and with links, there's always the original site:
Panda Software Virus Yearbook 2006