If targeted cyber attacks weren’t already one of the year’s top security concerns, a new study revealed that they’re no longer limiting their focus on the corporate giants of the world. They’re becoming the norm for midsized businesses, as well. This was just one of several recent reports and newly surfaced malware like the Stuxnet worm that have security professionals on high alert. With more stealthier attacks aimed at beating forensic efforts, cyber crime continues to have a growing impact on organizations and their bottom line. Here are some of the top security stories from July 2010. Continue reading this post…
April showers may bring May flowers, but the Internet also saw something else in full bloom — cyber crime. Computer systems around the globe experienced a variety of problems in April ranging from more fake antivirus software to malicious code that avoids detection from search engine Web crawlers. But none were as big as a well-publicized faulty security update that crashed thousands of computers and became a public relations nightmare for one of the world’s top security software makers. Here were some of the top security stories from April 2010: Continue reading this post…
Yesterday, we saw yet another example of how antivirus — not malicious code — can leave thousands of PCs useless.
What intended to be a routine McAfee software update to its antivirus definitions for corporate customers has likely turned into a costly nightmare for the antivirus software maker and many of its customers. Instead of updating the security software, the faulty virus definitions removed the Svchost.exe file, a critical component of the Windows operating system. Continue reading this post…
On Saturday, a faulty update for 64-bit Windows systems caused the BitDefender anti-virus software to flag thousands of legitimate Windows and BitDefender files as potential threats to the system. According to an article by Brian Krebs, “Bad BitDefender Antivirus Update Hobbles Windows PCs,” the glitch caused quite a stir with users who expressed their concerns on the antivirus firm’s Twitter page.
BitDefender later issued a statement to users saying it was creating a patch that would restore the quarantined files. The company also posted a partial recovery for users to follow, but that was met with more disconcerting Tweet’s from users saying that after following the instructions they were still unable to boot up their computers.
To make matters worse, BitDefender has also reportedly warned users that malware writers are issuing fake downloads that fix the problem. The company is advising users to download the fix only from its website.
This story appears to be another example of the escalating problems antivirus solutions are experiencing with bad system updates. The inability to effectively stop malicious code from exploiting system vulnerabilities is causing more work and frustrations for security professionals and users, alike. Including application whitelisting as part of a company’s endpoint security strategy not only prevents malicious code from executing, but also eliminates the risks that can accompany updates.