IT Security Blog

The Usual Malware Target

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Malware developers have a special place in their hearts for successful and popular systems, platforms and devices.  Why this is so is readily understandable.  The more successful and popular the target is, the more people are bound to be affected.  Also apparently, there is much pride in being able to penetrate what is touted to be secure and impenetrable.

Windows is said to be the king of malware being targeted by thousands of computer contaminants in the form of viruses, worms, trojan horses, spyware, crimeware, scareware, and unwelcome adware.   Google, Bing, Yahoo,Facebook and Twitter are likewise preferred targets precisely because they are all successful and popular in their own rights.  There is a growing consensus that Android is fast becoming the “Windows of Mobileware”, targeted by the same cybercriminals targeting other platforms that have since declined. 

Success and popularity as usual have their two sides, attracting patronage and attacks at the same time.  Malware attacks users through the very pathways where functionality is obtained which is primarily through the Internet.  Traditional protection are not able to stop the effects of more recent malicious attacks.  There exists a dilemma in the fact that fiercer malware are spurned faster more than solutions are produced. 

In the face of the unrelenting attacks on the most used platforms in spite of best efforts to keep them at bay, consumers are reminded to exercise caution and use common sense in their transactions.  Malicious intents always come with offers that are too good to be true.  Information requests which are obviously unrelated to the transaction  such as getting list of contacts for a game download should never be entertained.  Remember that cybercriminals will always be after two things:  your money and your personal information.

 

McAfee Detects Malware aimed at Tibetan Supporters

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tibet.jpgThe movement to free Tibet from Chinese rule has had several web sites and organizations springing up to fight for Tibetan independence from the Chinese’s Communist Rule. The movement was threatened by the government to be met with force and it indeed was resulting in the much publicized crackdown on the remote Chinese territory. Their discovery of the Trojan, nicknamed FriBet by McAfee is quite unique in the sense that it is the only form of malware that has been specifically designed to attack a specific type of computer, one that supports the Pro-Tibetan movement. The said malware has been identified to have infected two web sites that have expressed support for the movement and the Trojan then seeks all databases that are linked to the said site. Visiting the said infected sites will trigger a seek operation that downloads the payload onto the machine which in turn spreads it to other sites that it visits.
This raises suspicion though the experts are not raising the idea that it may have been developed to wreak havoc on sites the Chinese government have identified as supporters. The Chinese link has yet to be officially declared but anyone knows these types of attacks are a common practice of hackers. The surprising fact is that it is similar to a patriot which locks in on a target which has been designated by mission control effectively getting its target in any weather. The aiming is quite precise which leads conspiracy theories to the conclusion that it may be an attack on these sites from the inside. Much is to be learned from the Trojan as it is tracked and detected throughout the globe. Major developers of anti-viruses have been able to remove and block it but unprotected machines may prove to be too easy a target for the Trojan.