resource center
  See your link here
|
Subscribe to Computerworld IDG News Service - Computers infected with a well-known piece of malware began downloading a new spam tool Sunday night used by hackers to send unwanted e-mail.
Malware writers working as part of the infamous Bagle spam gang began sending a new spamming tool Sunday night to thousands of hacked computers, said Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at F-Secure Corp., a security company in Helsinki, Finland.
If a computer is infected with the Bagle worm, a hacker can download other malicious programs to the machine. In turn, those programs can send out spam to other machines without the knowledge of the user.
Once a computer is under their control, malware writers can upgrade the malicious software they have installed. Last night, machines infected with Bagle variants were downloading the new spam tool from a server in Slovakia hosting a real-estate Web site.
“This is the way virus writers can upgrade the infected machines,” Hypponen said. “It’s like [Microsoft Corp.’s] Windows update for viruses.”
The download link was buried within the Web site, and it’s unlikely the owners had any idea it was being used. Last night, the link was cut off, Hypponen said.
But within hours, a French site hosted in the U.S. was hosting a link with the malware, Hypponen said. The Internet service provider hosting that site has been contacted, but so far, the link remains active, he said.
F-Secure uses automated tools to poll URLs used by virus writers to host bad malware, Hypponen said.
About 99% are decoys, set up to throw off attempts to track them down. But when a site suddenly becomes active, Hypponen said, efforts are made to contact the Internet service providers to shut them down.
IDG.net
Addressing Compliance Initiatives with Tripwire and the Center for Internet Security
Learn the basics about security benchmarks, and specifically how the security benchmarks developed by the Center for Internet Security (CIS) can help you...
Usability Is Everything
Learn what sets Workday's HR and Payroll solutions apart from the competition....
An All-in-One Approach to Web Security
Granting web access to employees poses challenges to IT administrators and introduces unique security risks. Even as companies have perfected their security techniques...
The Value of Real SaaS at Workday
Cost savings, speed to value, and innovation brought to the enterprise by Workday's software-as-a-service solutions for HR and Payroll....
The Hidden Dangers of Spam
Beyond the well-understood productivity drain that spam inflicts on businesses, threats posed by illicit email circulating through a network are causing many security...
SaaS at Flextronics, Inc.
Dave Smoley, CIO of Flextronics, discusses the real value of software-as-a-service and why he chose Workday for his HR solution....
Case Study: The Ritz London
Discover how the superior capabilities of Webroot E-mail Security SaaS allows user to focus on their principal tasks instead of wasting their time...
Why Compliance Pays
This OnDemand webcast explores the relationship that firms with best compliance records have higher revenue, greater customer retention, lower financial losses from data...
Case Study: Richmond Ambulance Authority (RAA)
In this case study, find out how Webroot Web Security SaaS delivers the proactive web security RAA needs....
Agile Enterprise Content Management (ECM) for Rapid ROI
Find out how combining ECM and BPM will help adress issues about content rich business processes....
Sign up to receive updates on the latest Security resources
CIO
Computerworld
CSO
DEMO
GamePro
Games.net
IDC
IDG
IDG Connect
IDG Knowledge Hub
IDG TechNetwork
IDG Ventures
IDG.net
InfoWorld
ITwhitepapers
ITworld
JavaWorld
LinuxWorld
Macworld
Network World
PC World
The Industry Standard
Copyright © 1994 - 2009 Computerworld Inc. All
rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium
without express written permission ofComputerworld Inc. is prohibited. Computerworld and Computerworld.com and the respective logos are trademarks of International Data Group Inc. |
