Well-honed Attacks Sneak Under the Radar

By Erik Larkin

July 3, 2009 05:27 PM ET

Comments

(1)

Top Stories

PC World - Samples of documents used in carefully prepared targeted attacks make clear that while a suspicious eye is a great security tool, some especially dangerous attacks might slide right by you.

Targeted attacks often send a carefully constructed e-mail to one or a handful of specifically chosen targets. The messages are well-written, and don't contain the tell-tale typos and errors that often accompany malware campaigns. They're far more rare, and far more dangerous, than the average attack.

The seven 'bait file' samples posted by F-Secure "have been used to infect specific individuals in different organizations in order to gain access to their computer," the company writes,and all contained exploits that would install remote-control malware on a victim PC.

But of the five I can read (one appears to be in Russian, another German), only one would immediately trigger my own warning bells. If I opened any of the other .pdf or .doc files I probably wouldn't notice anything amiss.

The good news is that even if one of these sneaky little buggers crept past you, they'd likely hit a brick wall if your software was up-to-date. Unless a targeted attack goes after an unpatched zero-day software flaw (which unfortunately does happen), its exploit payload would fizzle out if you've patched the flaw it looks for. So keep clicking yes to those automatic update notices, and fire up that Secunia PSI.

Reprinted with permission from

For more PC news, visit PCWorld.com.
Story copyright 2009 PC World Communications. All rights reserved.

Comment Recommend Digg Twitter ShareThis

Email Print Send Feedback Reprints

Jump to comments

Samples of documents used in carefully prepared targeted attacks make clear that while a suspicious eye is a great security tool

Additional Resources

WHITE PAPER

Do You Know the 7 Steps to Successful Data Migration?

Approximately 60 percent of data migration projects overrun time or budget, while some fail completely. Download this white paper, "Enhancing Your Chance for Successful Data Migration," to learn the critical steps you need to take to execute a data migration project with minimum cost and risk to your business.

WHITE PAPER

Total Cost of Ownership of Server Computing Vs. PCs

Read the Gartner research note to learn why the TCO of a server-based computing deployment used to deliver all applications to users is around 50% lower than that of an unmanaged desktop deployment.

WHITE PAPER

IDC White Paper: Linux in a Global Recession

Economic downturns have a tendency to accelerate emerging technologies, boost the adoption of effective solutions, and punish solutions that are not cost competitive or that are out of synch with industry trends. This IDC White Paper presents the results of an IDC survey of 330 companies in Western Europe, Asia/Pacific and the Americas that measures the receptiveness to Linux and takes into consideration changing views driven by the disruptive economic environment that businesses face today.

What People Are Saying

1 comments | Add new

See all comments (1) | Add new

White Papers & Webcasts

Share our Strength
Download Now

Lower the Cost and Complexity of a Mobile Workforce through Automation
Download This Resource Now!

Top 10 Things to Know about Data Protection
Download Now

Managing Mobility: Improve Data Security, Compliance and Manageability
Download This Resource Now!

Top 10 Actions a CIO Can Take to Prepare for a Hurricane
Download Now

Managing Secure File Transfer to Save Time, Money and IT Resources
Learn how companies are using innovative technology to overcome these challenges and improve user productivity by offloading e-mail attachments and replacing FTP with...

Ponemon Study: The Business Risk of a Lost Laptop
Download Now

Security Convergence Equals Network Security Cost Savings
Listen to IBM Internet Security Systems' take on network security convergence.

Airport Insecurity: The Case of Lost Laptops
Download Now

Disaster Recovery 2008: Reduced Costs and Improved Performance
How long can your Enterprise afford to be without your data? With an accelerated disaster recovery program, you never have to answer this...

All White Papers | All Webcasts