A spyware distributor noted for an extensive use of rootkits that make its software difficult to delete has closed shop, citing unspecified practices of its distribution partners as the reason.
ContextPlus, which spread spyware and adware, including software that hijacked searches and programs that leveled systems with egregious numbers of pop-up ads, has posted a message on its Web site saying it’s out of the business.
LOS ANGELES—A co-owner of a Hollywood video game store that caters to celebrity clients on Wednesday pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to violate federal copyright laws by selling Xbox video game consoles modified to play pirated games.
A startup funded by the U.S. government’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is ready to emerge from stealth mode with hardware- and software-based technologies to fight the rapid spread of malicious rootkits.
Komoku, of College Park, Md., plans to ship a beta of Gamma, a new rootkit detection tool that builds on a prototype used by several sensitive U.S. government departments to find operating system abnormalities that may be linked to malicious rootkit activity.
Rootkits that hide malicious software from anti-virus and anti-spyware tools are growing in number and sophistication, and will pose an unprecedented risk to users by 2008, security company McAfee said this week.
Rootkits, used by hackers to hide malicious software, are on the rise and becoming more complex, according to security company McAfee.
In the first quarter, the number of rootkits seen by McAfee’s Avert Labs grew by 700 percent, compared with the same period last year, the company said on Monday. Its research into “stealth techniques” also covered cloaking technology bundled with commercial programs, such as Sony BMG’s antipiracy tool, and with potentially unwanted software such as adware.
If reports issued by several well-known anti-virus companies are on the money, IT administrators will continue to face new and sophisticated forms of malware that challenge the security industry’s ability to stay ahead of emerging threats.
Based on a new study released by software maker McAfee’s Avert Labs group, the technology used to cloak many different forms of malware, especially rootkits, is becoming increasingly complex and harder to detect.
A European student has just developed a Proof of Concept for what the developer believes is the world’s first kernel mode IRCbot.
The creator, Tibbar (”Rabbit” spelled backwards), says the difference between this innovation and standard Windows rootkits lies in its crossover ability. Most Windows-based rootkits hide in device drivers, then depend on outside, usermode applications to get anything done.
Virus writers have begun adding rootkit functionality as a component of commonplace malware such as MyDoom and Bagle. Rootkit technology is designed to hide the presence of malware on infected systems. Originally the technology featured only as a component of more sophisticated and exotic forms of malware. Now the technology has moved into the mainstream, anti-virus firm F-secure reports.
Malicious hackers have fitted rootkit features into the newest mutants of the Bagle worm, adding a stealthy new danger to an already virulent threat.
According to virus hunters at F-Secure, of Helsinki, Finland, the latest Bagle.GE variant loads a kernel-mode driver to hide the processes and registry keys of itself and other Bagle-related malware from security scanners.
An interesting security advisory discussing about the new malware threats from VM Rootkits, top phish of the week to fake antispyware.
From the article:
Sometimes advanced technologies converge to make life dangerous for computer users. So, is this the case with VM-based rootkits, the latest threat lurking around the corner. Read about them in the VM Rootkits section.
