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How AV Can Open You To Attacks That Otherwise Wouldn't Be Possible (arstechnica.com)
Antivirus suites expose a user's system to attacks that otherwise wouldn't be possible, a security researcher reported on Friday. From a report: On Friday, a researcher documented a vulnerability he had found in about a dozen name-brand AV programs that allows attackers who already have a toehold on a targeted computer to gain complete system control. AVGater, as the researcher is calling the vulnerability, works by relocating malware already put into an AV quarantine folder to a location of the attacker's choosing. Attackers can exploit it by first getting a vulnerable AV program to quarantine a piece of malicious code and then moving it into a sensitive directory such as C:\Windows or C:\Program Files, which normally would be off limits to the attacker. Six of the affected AV programs have patched the vulnerablity after it was privately reported. The remaining brands have yet to fix it, said Florian Bogner, a Vienna, Austria-based security researcher who gets paid to hack businesses so he can help them identify weaknesses in their networks. Bogner said he developed a series of AVGater exploits during several assignments that called for him to penetrate deep inside customer networks. Using malicious phishing e-mails, he was able to infect employee PCs, but he still faced a significant challenge. Because company administrators set up the PCs to run with limited system privileges, Bogner's malware was unable to access the password database -- known as the Security Account Manager -- that stored credentials he needed to pivot onto the corporate network.
Jackson Klaxon, a 32 year old software developer from Nohope Idaho, was today arrested outside a local dentist's office for indecent behaviour, stealing a llama from a nearby llama farmer and suspicion of being under the influence of hallucinogens.
"The door to the surgery opened and I was shocked to see Mr Klaxon standing there naked, particularly as he didn't have an appointment", said Ethel Mercaptan, Receptionist, mother of six and part-time meth addict. "He turned round, a sight none of us was ready for, and dragged a large, somewhat reluctant animal in after him. I thought it was a stretch goat but was later informed it's what they call a llama. I became alarmed when Mr Klaxon started dancing and waving his arms around in Reception, all the time singing a silly song."
"I told him he had to stop but he took no notice so I called the police, I mean we had women and children waiting and going to the dentist can be stressful enough. It's true some of the children were laughing and clapping and a couple of the adults were smiling but we really can't have that sort of behavior."
"We'll have to have the carpet replaced because of the mess. What? No, the llama was well behaved by comparison. I'm afraid most of it was Mr Klaxon."