Slashdot Mirror
New Malware Overwrites Software Updaters
itwbennett writes "Researchers at Bach Khoa Internetwork Security (BKIS), a Vietnamese security company, have found a new type of malware that 'masks itself as an updater for Adobe Systems' products and other software such as Java,' wrote BKIS analyst Nguyen Cong Cuong in a post on the company's blog. BKIS showed screenshots of a variant of the malware that imitates Adobe Reader version 9 and overwrites the AdobeUpdater.exe, which regularly checks in with Adobe to see if a new version of the software is available."
On the one hand, it's malware, on the other hand it replaces software from Adobe.
I can't decide if it's an enhancement or not.
If your copy of AdobeUpdater.exe runs reliably without unexplained crashing, you are probably running the malware version.
Adobe installers are pernicious, sneaky, and they will attempt to install things you don't want. When an installer that acts like malware gets replaced with real malware, that could be classified as 'totally ironic' on the Morrisette Irony Scale.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
They have stolen my idea! Can I patent malware?
Absolutely none, assuming you are still using Lynx :-D
"Please describe the scientific nature of the 'whammy'" - Agent Scully
... on the Morrisette Irony Scale.
I've got one of those. Mine goes to 10.
John
Seeing as how 'a black fly in your chardonnay' is classified as 'pretty darn ironic' on the Morrisette Scale, I think her scale might be broken.
I don't know of an OS that hasn't been attacked with a fake dialog trying to trick a user.
From the comments I see here regularly, apparently Linux and OS X.
I have never seen a fake Linux dialog. I've had my browser in Linux display fake *Windows* dialogs. They tend to be fairly...obvious.