Vx-community-vs-microsoft-the-first-battle-34

Virus threatens Windows Update site tomorrow, specialists say

BitDefender Labs warns against a possible massive attack against the Microsoft Windows Update website, scheduled for tomorrow, August 15, 2003. This attack might be due to recent virus Msblast (also known as Blaster or Lovesan), which infected already hundreds of thousands of computers. Its three versions enclose instructions to launch a Denial of Service (DoS) attack against windowsupdate.com, beginning from tomorrow.

"Is that the response to Microsoft recent efforts to secure its software by all means, even by "shopping" small antivirus producers? Or maybe the first combat from a long war? Probably, it's not for us to say it... Anyway, this could be the beginning of a "campaign" - initiated by VX-ers (virus writers groups) and taken further by script-kiddies freaks", Bogdan Irina, Marketing and Sales Director at BitDefender noted. "The authors of the last two versions have just changed the enclosed strings (probably lacking the virus source and documentation), so they just agreed with the first idea and thought to add AV producers to the list (see the injurious line for the Antivirus Makers in the virus body). We believe that other versions of the same threat could outbreak, at least as long as the users don't promptly update their systems", Bogdan concluded.

While most users were affected by the last virus versions, requiring new antivirus updates, BitDefender users had no need to ask for new virus definitions. Unlike other antivirus products, BitDefender new scanning engines ensure the scanning of the code (not of the full data), avoiding the need for update at every slight modification of the virus.

BitDefender warned against the possibility to exploit the RPC vulnerability in its monthly "Evil Top Ten" (published on 30.07.2003), after the release, by a Chinese X Focus security group, of the source code designed to allow remote intrusions on Windows computers. "As security researchers warn, there is probably much to be heard from this new breach...".

BitDefender specialists advise the patching of all NT-based Windows systems before tomorrow and, for those already infected, the use of the BitDefender removal tool, available for free on this site.

For more details, please contact us or see the technical description .

For a permanent protection, BitDefender Antivirus commercial solutions are available for sale on the Internet or at local distributors and start from USD 29.95.

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