Network security 2009: Disturbing computer virus problems

According to Bkis Network Security Center, computer viruses are the most serious cybersecurity problem in 2009. New viruses still appear more and more complicated.

In 2009, there were 50,128 new strains of virus appeared in the year, 1.5 times higher than 2008 and 7 times higher than 2007. These viruses infected 64.7 million computers, of which The most common is the polymorphic virus strain W32.SalityVF.PE that infected over 483,000 computers.

Millions of computers in Vietnam have been infected with metamorphic virus. Viruses W32.Sality.PE and W32.Vetor.PE constantly " dominate " on the statistics table of the most contagious viruses. Super polymorphic viruses have truly become a challenge not only for users but also for anti-virus software.

Network security 2009: Disturbing computer virus problems Picture 1

In 2009, there were 50,128 new strains of virus appeared in the year, 1.5 times higher than in 2008 and 7 times higher than in 2007.

Super polymorphic virus is the new ' high-end ' generation of previous polymorphic strains. Polymorphic viruses are viruses that automatically convert their own code, creating different variations in each infection. In the meantime, regular viruses always maintain the same type of code in all infections, in other words, there is only one variant.

This ' change of shape ' ability enables polymorphic viruses to hide subtly from the scanning of anti-virus software. According to Bkav's metamorphic virus removal system, in the past year, Vietnam had 2.2 million computers infected with this virus.

A series of fake antivirus software appeared

In 2009, a series of fake antivirus software - Fake AV was born in a short time causing confusion for users worldwide.

By emailing or taking advantage of search engines, hackers lead users to access the fake online virus scanning website, which has the same interface as the Windows window.

The user will then receive a series of notifications that the computer is infected with the virus and ' recommended ' to click on a button to kill the virus. If this fake ' recommendation ' is followed, the user has downloaded a fake antivirus software to the computer.

These fake antivirus software, after being installed on the computer, will continuously report the virus infection status on the computer causing confusion to users. Many people have to spend money to buy these software in the hope that they can handle the problem, but in fact, they have to buy the virus themselves. And that is the main purpose of hackers in attacks using fake antivirus software.

Bkis' virus tracking system recognizes 744 antivirus software rogue programs with tens of thousands of variants like W32.FakeAntivirERZ.Adware , W32.FakeAvVbs.Worm or W32 in the past year. .FakeAVScanAD.Adware . At least 258,000 computers in Vietnam have been tricked into installing these software.

As a precaution, users need to be very alert when accessing the web, should not download any software of unknown origin.

New techniques of virus appear

In 2009, new viruses increased not only in quantity but also in new, more sophisticated ways of spreading and destroying. According to Bkis research, there are at least 02 new techniques used to spread and destroy but not in previous strains.

Network security 2009: Disturbing computer virus problems Picture 2 First of all, W32.Induc.PE - Virus infects by attacking the Delphi compiler. Instead of infecting directly on application software, the new virus named W32.Induc.PE selects Borland Delphi compiler (a programming tool) to spread the pedal. That means if the programmer's computer is infected with W32.Induc.PE virus, the software written on that computer will also be infected. Thus, software written in Delphi that is delivered to the user may have malicious code.

Next, Trojans can eavesdrop on Skype conversations. Despite Skype's attempt to protect its data using public encryption, a recent malware has the ability to eavesdrop on users' conversations with Skype voice chat. . Bkav antivirus software recognizes this malware as W32.Peskyspy.Trojan .

2010: The virus problem has not decreased

According to Bkis, the virus will continue to appear daily in increasing numbers, especially dangerous viruses such as polymorphic viruses, viruses override standard operating system files. 2010 will also be the year to witness the spike of fake antivirus programs, targeting the negligence of users.

When a direct attack on a user's computer becomes more difficult, hackers will attack with phishing tricks. For example, when Microsoft introduced a relatively tight UAC (User Account Control) mechanism, with high security and every decision made on the computer would belong to the user, the virus immediately appeared. fake Windows 7 notifications to trick users into executing malicious code.

Mobile phones will be a new target for criminals, especially when 3G networks start operating in Vietnam. In 2010 there will be many phishing attacks and malicious code distribution on mobile phones in Vietnam. This situation has occurred in many countries with broadband wireless networks and 3G development.

In terms of the level of danger, being attacked by mobile phones is many times more dangerous than being attacked via computers and the Internet because the mentality of users always think that phones are very personal items, always in my hands, so I have no awareness of this device. Meanwhile, when 3G is available, many important and important data are stored, updated and traded on mobile phones such as financial data, private information .

However, with the revised Criminal Law, which came into effect from January 1, 2010, will create a legal corridor to handle criminals who spread computer viruses. If previous cases of virus dispersal, which were only administratively sanctioned, this behavior could be criminally prosecuted in 2010 and sentenced to between 1 and 12 years of imprisonment.