“Many are falling victim via booby-trapped websites that use vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s browser to install the attack code,” The Beeb reports. “Experts say the virus is dangerous because it buries itself deep inside Windows to avoid detection.”
“The malicious program is a type of virus known as a rootkit and it tries to overwrite part of a computer’s hard drive called the Master Boot Record (MBR),” The Beeb reports. “Once installed the virus, dubbed Mebroot by Symantec, usually downloads other malicious programs, such as keyloggers, to do the work of stealing confidential information.”
“Most of these associated programs lie in wait on a machine until its owner logs in to the online banking systems of one of more than 900 financial institutions,” The Beeb reports.
“The Russian virus-writing group behind Mebroot is thought to have created the torpig family of viruses that are known to have been installed on more than 200,000 systems. This group specialises in stealing bank login information,” The Beeb reports. “Although the password-stealing programs that Mebroot installs can be found by security software, few commercial anti-virus packages currently detect its presence. Mebroot cannot be removed while a computer is running.”
“Computers running Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows 2000 that are not fully patched are all vulnerable to the virus,” The Beeb reports.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Barry” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Note: For Mac users who run Windows: The Beeb reports that GMER “has produced a utility that will scan and remove the stealthy program.” GMER is an application that detects and removes rootkits on Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista. More info here.
Yeah…but running Windows is cheaper….
duh
“Many are falling victim via booby-trapped websites . . .”
And not the good kind either. Windows virus victims must have pretty long fuses.
Why the French should not be allowed to have Macs.
Everyone panic!!! Head for the hills there’s a Quicktime proof on concept that’ll overflow your buffer!!! Call Rob, Call Devorak. We need hit pieces ASAP!! And for God’s sake, SWITCH TO V-I-S-T-AAA!!!
Oh, by the way Russian hackers launched a Windows virus that steals your bank account. You might want to burry your checkbook.
So if I have Windows accessible through my Mac I should run GMER thingy, correct? Just to check if I have it…
Excellent point, MacB!
You pretentious MAC sheep get all high and mighty with declarations that you don’t have to deal with viruses or “everything just works.” Whatever. MACs are expensive!
Whine all you want about “Windows is hard” or “PCs are ugly” or “I know a guy who couldn’t get rid of viruses on his Windows machine so he bought a new computer” but at the end of the day they cost less than a MAC. Dorks.
Your potential. Our passion.™
Why the hell does the media refer to everything bad on a computer as a “virus”. This isn’t a virus. This is malware. Viruses “infect” programs and files, thus the name. This is a malicious piece of software that uses a trick to download itself. There hasn’t been an actual virus in god-only-knows how long. Sorry, pet peeve.
But whatever you call it, this is the type of security problem that doesn’t happen on a Mac!! You can’t bury sh*t into Mac OS X like you can Windows. You can’t trick Safari into downloading and running something just by visiting a website.
——RM
MDN is just mentioning this for Mac users who have to use Windows.
It has nothing to do with an ‘In Your Face’ to the Windows trolls that seem to need to frequent this site to feel better about their stupid computing choices.
I believe you MDN, even if no one else does.
Was is Microsoft that came up with the “Trusted Computing” term or something like that?
> Yeah…but running Windows is cheaper….
And not having to worry constantly about malware… priceless.
FYI – Since I don’t have pay for anti-virus protection “subscription” annually, “running” a Mac is cheaper.
“Trusted Computing”
That was a typo. It was supposed to be Trussed Computing.
You don’t have to pay for virus protection on Windows. There are free anti-virus software like AVG. That is way better than Norton, which isn’t free.
Everyone, MacB was being sarcastic…
Unpatched Vista is vulnerable? I though the magic IE security sandbox (Protected Mode) they deigned for it was supposed to prevent this type of thing…
Rootkits can exist on OS X there just isnt enough users for the criminals to develop and implement one for the wild yet.
Anti Rootkit OS X Scanners like OS X Rootkit Hunter can be found at http://www.antirootkit.com/software/index.htm
Our time will come….
BTW this particular does not work on Vista.
This is my conversation on the phone last week with a Sympatico rep to find out the details to hook up my mom to high speed internet:
Rep: … and with the high speed package, we include a special option which includes software to protect from spyware and viruses, a firewall, parental control…
Me: (interrupting) My mother has a Mac.
Rep: Oh… uh… never mind.
@ Marco,
The ‘there aren’t enough users’ argument just doesn’t fly anymore. There’s nothing about it that’s logical.
Think about it… Not only have Mac sales skyrocketed, but also there’s the added fame of being ‘the first’ to get through.
Plus, there’s those millions of unsuspecting Mac users who haven’t bothered to download the simplest in protection software because they don’t need to. There’s nothing to detect that something’s wrong. What a bounty!
Back to paying my bills online…
JAYGEE,
I use AVG anti-virus myself, but it is not better than Norton. If you check some of the latest tests, the latest Norton is about the best at finding viruses. AVG is not as good as it used to be.
Also, most anti-virus software does not detect root-kits. Grisoft (makers of AVG) have a free root-kit detector. You can get it here:
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/download-free-anti-rootkit/us/frt/0
I don’t know if it will find this particular infection.
By the way, I never ever use my Windows rigs for ANY type of financial transactions. That is trusted only to my Macs.
Ok, what’s better and more secure than cheap?
ubuntu!!! BTW, Linux/Unix command line is easier to learn than DOS.
My $.02
I can think of a lot of things that are easier to learn than dos
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
LOADHIGH EMM386
Windows people havn’t got any money anyway. They’re too busy spending it all on virus protection software. The Mac may be a little pricy for some but in the long run it’s actually the cheapest.
Oh and I don’t bother downloading security updates, I’ve got better things to download:-) and I havn’t seen a virus yet.
baa! baa! maaac! baa! baa!
jaybe,
That’s the most intelligent thing I have ever heard you say.
Do you whisper those words to your girlfriend while getting-it-on?
The low-hanging fruit will always be Windows. Even if a Mac exploit is successful, what the hacker gains is not worth the effort. The malware does not self-replicate to other systems, and it does not make a Mac into the hacker’s automated robot. So what’s the point…? That’s why all you hear about (other than Trojan Horse malware that relies on gullible users), are “proof-of-concept” Mac malware. Those things may prove it is possible to do something, but they don’t prove it’s worthwhile to do it out in the real world.
I feel secure using a Mac because Mac OS X is inherently more secure AND because Windows is a lot more “worth the effort” to hackers.