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The Computer Virus Industry

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The accusation of virus-killer software manufacturers of creating their own demand is on The Times Online today (though the tight bastards have hidden all their content behind a subscription fee recently).

Has there been any evidence that this is the case?
 
IIRC there have been stories of viruses being developed for study within anti-virus software companies that have "escaped into the wild." How true these stories are I'm not sure, but there is a rationale for these companies developing viruses, exploiting recently discovered flaws in the OS etc., as a means to understand what they might be about to face. It is akin to the allowance made in the Chemical Weapons Convention allowing the production of very small quantities of chemical agent in order to better protect/defend against it.

Still, this is pretty much speculation as I can't point to a specific example.
 
Re: virus. A threat to your PC or licence to print money?
By Anthony Browne

COMPUTER software companies have been accused of failing to stamp out viruses because they make so much money selling programmes to combat them.
Companies that sell antivirus programmes were also accused of choosing catchy names for the viruses, so they get more publicity.

The row, which reflects the millennium bug furore, when computer experts were accused of hyping the problem to generate work, has erupted after the SoBig.F virus was declared the biggest ever, with e-mail inboxes clogged up around the world. The internet provider AOL said it had stopped more than 23 million copies of the virus.

BT, Britain’s biggest phone company, was yesterday warning internet service providers that its fast internet broadband network was “suffering intermittent degradation of service” because of the extra traffic the virus had generated.

Yesterday Nick Scales, chief executive of software company Avecho, which also makes anti-virus programmes, said the industry had a vested commercial interest in letting the virus attacks continue: “It’s complacent, silly and I’d even go so far as to say there is a cartel there. There is a triangle between the virus writers who get the kudos, the anti-virus software companies and the technical writers who write about it.”

The commercial director of Avecho, Simon Copeland, said that people in other anti-virus companies had told him they chose deliberately provocative names in order to get publicity. “They think its not bad to get some publicity because it scares everyone into buying their product.”

But the claims were denied by other software companies. Simon Conant, of Microsoft, said: “That’s like saying that fire departments want fires.”
Click to expand...
PS. I still haven't had a virus, and have never (in 10 years of using a PC) run AV software or a firewall. Woo!
 
I agree with the 'Firemen and starting fires' quote. They are enough kids out there creating or re-writing virii to keep the anti virus industry busy. Logon to the Norton anti virus site and you'll see up to four new alerts in one day.

And I would hardly consider 'So-Big-F' to be a provocative name. I've heard cats names with a bigger fear factor.

Plus if you don't want to put money in their pockets, use the popular, famous and free AVG anti virus.
 
I'm a complete novice at all this anti-virus stuff, where can i find this AVG thing?
 
taras said:
PS. I still haven't had a virus, and have never (in 10 years of using a PC) run AV software or a firewall. Woo!
Click to expand...

Depends what operating system you're running, and the type of internet connection you have, and how careful you are.
Hackers don't usually bother attacking somebody who's using an older, less secure version of Windows (such as Win 95 or Win 98), and they also don't bother unless you have a fixed IP address (i.e. broadband). If you connect through dialup, you're less likely to get attacked by hackers.
As for viruses, they mostly arrive through email. If you delete all the dodgy emails without viewing them or allowing attachments through, you're mostly safe.
It *is* possible (but rare) to get a virus (usually a javascript or similar virus) by just looking at a website - it almost happened to me twice, but my virus checker software protected me.
So you've been very, very lucky...
 
I turned ZoneAlert off cos I was sick off the pop-ups and got a virus that wiped my hard drive within 24 hours.
Was it a spotty geek or was it Zone Alert?
Bastards, whichever one.
 
McAvennie said:
I turned ZoneAlert off cos I was sick off the pop-ups and got a virus that wiped my hard drive within 24 hours.
Was it a spotty geek or was it Zone Alert?
Bastards, whichever one.
Click to expand...

u can switch off the popy up bits in ZA.. at least the ones that show u whats happeing..it still blocks em but it dont tell u all the time..
 
McAvennie said:
I turned ZoneAlert off cos I was sick off the pop-ups and got a virus that wiped my hard drive within 24 hours.
Was it a spotty geek or was it Zone Alert?
Bastards, whichever one.
Click to expand...

Zone Alarm is a Firewall program , not an anti virus program.It isn't meant to stop viruses.
 
There is a whole slew of good security resources here (most of them for free):

http://faq.ozoneasylum.com/338/

I'd recommend everyone grab the basic set of security tools:

Firewall - ZA or Outpost (XP comes with a firewall but get another one - MS aren't really the kind of people to be trusted).

Antivirus - AVG (if you can the license is funny about which countries are in and out).

Spyware scanner - Adaware

All of that is available free.

I also run Jammer (I got a free version on a computeragazine cover disc) which locks down the Registry so anything that tries to install itself causes an alert.

Emps
 
Mythopoeika said:
Depends what operating system you're running, and the type of internet connection you have, and how careful you are.
Click to expand...
Well, I've been on a high-speed university connection for the last year and running XP :)

I reckon if you run Windows Update once a week, don't open dodgy attachments and don't download dodgy files, then there's not really any need for AV software. And think before doing silly things, like, "would Microsoft really send me updates by e-mail?" and "would this pirated copy of [game] really have such a small file size - and is it worth the risk of getting a virus? (yes!)"
 
Y'know I was convinced there was summat funny about anti-virus software, twice within days of my software licence due to "expire" my 'puter went down wi' summat ... didn't this year tho'
 
taras said:
PS. I still haven't had a virus, and have never (in 10 years of using a PC) run AV software or a firewall. Woo!
Click to expand...

Taras, I'd really like a link to that article if you can remember where you got it from.
 
Taras: with respect, if you've never run an antivirus programme how do you know you don't have a virus?

There seems to be a bit of a misconception around that the instant your computer contracts a virus it will go crazy. In fact, some viruses will sit in the background happily working away using your PC to send off spam or participate in DNS attacks without you being any the wiser - except perhaps noticing that the internet seems a little slower than it used to be.

(See How Viruses (and your PC) are used to send spam and Are Hackers Using Your PC? )

There are plenty of freeware antivirus and firewall programmes around which do a perfectly adequate job Personally, I use AVG Antivirus and ZoneAlarm. My ex-flatmate (who obviously used the same internet connection as me) had no end of bother with viruses and nearly got himself kicked off the internet when he somehow contracted a dialler on his laptop which ran up an additional £30 on our phone bill. (After which I insisted he install some security and got my phone company to block calls to Premium Rate numbers)

I would recommend that anyone without a firewall visit the Shields Up test center to discover just how easily their PC can be compromised.
 
If anti-virus companies are hyping up the virus problem and extending it just to make money, they got the idea first from the health care industry, they've been doing it for decades.
 
Maybe I'm just too cynical but I've noticed Norton pops up a lot more with the message 'a recent attempt to access your computer was blocked' in the run up to a resubscription.
It's also not as efficient as I'd hoped even though I run Adaware to pick up things it misses.
Recently, I got a Norton Trojan alert at the same second Windows update appeared with a list of security features to install, including their Malicious Software removal tool. It killed Norton stone dead and failed to remove whatever the problem was as it's only updated once a month.

I installed a spybot searcher and avast to clear up the mess, halted the Windows updates and will probably switch to AVG as it's free and reports are good.
 
jimv1 said:
halted the Windows updates and will probably switch to AVG as it's free and reports are good.
Click to expand...
I did that, no problems so far although I keep getting warnings that my coputer might be at risk because Windows updates is turned off.
 
Computer Virus Scam.

My housemate says that she 'knows' that 'most' computer viruses are actually created by people on the payroll of anti-virus software companies, so that the product continues to be needed.

I've heard this is the wilder reaches of conspiracyland (and in the novel Oryx And Crake by Margaret Atwood) in relation to real drug companies - that, say, paracetamols are shipped out with germs in them, so there is a continuous demand for the companies' drugs.

Anyone know anything about it?
 
Well, there are the pop ups that tell you that your PC is infected (untrue) and that you need to buy AV software from them. But thats at a tangent to what you're talking about I suppose.
 
Many years ago I heard that most computer viruses were rarely found "in the wild" ie outside of the labs of anti-virus software houses.

Nowadays I think most viruses are the product of anti-social 12 year olds - I don't think you could blame the software companies for them.

What I think is true is that the danger of viruses was wildly exaggerated in the past. Until the advent of mass spam mail, keyloggers etc it was quite unusual to get one on your PC.

Never heard the paracetemol UL but there are persistent claims that Big Pharma lobbies governments and the UN to keep cannabis illegal, on the grounds that freely available weed would cut down the demand for anti-MS drugs and so on.
 
I got a questionnaire today from my antivirus outfit, McAfee.

My responses were not very favourable to them. I reckon it's overpriced, bloated, and hasn't detected a single virus in the last couple of years.

But then I think, how many viruses (virii?) might I have got if I didn't have it? :?

(I had Norton before, and I fell out with that too for reasons that I now forget...)

But I have some kind of minor(?) problem right now - is it a virus, or just my computer showing its age..?
 
But then I think, how many viruses (virii?) might I have got if I didn't have it?
Click to expand...

My parents never bothered with AV software and, to be fair, used the internet quite rarely. Nonethtless the PC ended up horrendously infected with viruses and spyware.
 
rynner2 said:
I got a questionnaire today from my antivirus outfit, McAfee.

My responses were not very favourable to them. I reckon it's overpriced, bloated, and hasn't detected a single virus in the last couple of years.
Click to expand...
I ditched it years ago, as it was hopeless. Had to reformat a hard disk as McAfee had let an entire squadron of nasties in without even stirring. I've been happily using AVG ever since.
But then I think, how many viruses (virii?) ..
Click to expand...
Viruses. Virus is a mass noun (like air or water), meaning any quantity of poison, and thus doesn't have a plural in Latin.
(I had Norton before, and I fell out with that too for reasons that I now forget...)

But I have some kind of minor(?) problem right now - is it a virus, or just my computer showing its age..?
Click to expand...
IIRC Norton and McAfee are both Symantec products, and as bad as one another.

Try switching off the antivirus and scanning online using Trend Micro - it's free. If it finds stuff, I'd suggest you should sling McAfee altogether and go with AVG or Comodo. Even if your system is clean, free and reliable is better than pricey and not-very-reliable :).
 
I think paid-for security software is a scam full-stop, I've been a heavy internet user for ten years and have never had a problem....I only use the free stuff (legal!).
 
Years ago, I had a Norton firewall and a McAfee virus checker.

Unfortunately, both Norton and McAfee products seem to be programmed to war with each other, so there was always something happening.

Then one day, I caught a virus from a website I'd visited. McAfee detected and trapped the virus successfully, but an acknowledged bug in McAfee deleted all of my emails. I was well annoyed at that - it wasn't the virus that had done the damage, but the virus checker itself!

After that, I scrapped McAfee completely and I now use Norton Internet Security. So far, I haven't had too many problems, but recently the Conficker trojan got onto both my main PC and my laptop.

I had to use a free utility, SUPERAntiSpyware, to completely remove the trojan. Norton didn't seem capable of doing this.

About many of the viruses and trojans being manufactured by the security product companies themselves... I think this is true. A programmer I used to know (who had a friend who worked in this industry) told me that what they do is design some 'proof of concept' viruses, and then design a fix.
These 'viruses' then get added to their virus definitions list, to pad it out (making the list of viruses look much bigger, and making them look like they are doing their job).
However, they don't create real viruses that do any damage - that is done by malicious young perps.

Edit: PS - Another major reason why I stopped using McAfee was because it was always difficult to connect to their update service (so I could update my virus definitions). I never had this problem with Norton.
 
'Scareware' scams trick searchers

Makers of fake anti-virus software are exploiting search engines to drive people to sites peddling 'scareware'.

Using popular and mis-spelled search terms, the criminals divert people to sites that are seeded with fake warnings about virus infections.

The pop-up warnings claim that a visitor's PC is riddled with malicious programmes and spyware.

Research suggests some criminals are making as much as $10,000 a day from fake security software.

Computer security firm Finjan carried out the research into the techniques sellers of 'scareware' use to get their fake software in front of web users.

"They are misleading people with evidence that their machine is infected with viruses and they are encouraging them to download and buy software that basically does nothing," said Yuval Ben-Itzhak, chief technology officer at Finjan.

Studies suggest that 'scareware' is catching on among some hi-tech criminals.

A report by the Anti-Phishing Working Group, released in March 2009, found 9,287 bogus anti-malware programmes in circulation in December 2008 - a rise of 225% since January 2008.

"The reason they are making so much money is the new techniques they are using, namely search engine optimisation," he said.

Mr Ben-Itzhak said a campaign to push scareware typically involves two groups of hi-tech criminals. One group compromises webpages and injects them with popular search terms, the other sells the fake security software.

Some seed pages with popular keywords such as "Obama" but others use terms associated with recent events. Some tried to cash in on the death of Natasha Richardson by using words taken from news stories about the actress's death.

Using these popular terms mean the pages appear high up in results when people carry out a keyword search.

Anyone clicking on a booby-trapped page is then instantly re-directed to the site hosting the links to the fake security software.

Once they arrive, visitors are bombarded with pop-ups warning that their PC is infected. To clear up the infection users must download and pay for anti-virus software which typically costs about $50 (£34).

Through its research, Finjan got access to the web-based systems that one group of 'scareware' peddlers used to manage their search engine campaigns.

It found that, over a 16-day period, more than 1.8m people were re-directed to the sites pushing the 'scareware'. Of those visiting the sites 7-12% installed the fake software and 1.79% paid $50 for it.

Some of the proceeds from this is handed back to those who inject the search terms into webpages, netting them about $10,800 (£7,467) a day for their work.

Mr Ben-Itzhak said people should be very wary of any pop-up window claiming to find evidence of an infection.

"It's impossible to scan your local disk without installing software," he said.

A spokesman for Google said it tried to combat efforts to trick its indexing system into crediting a page with more popularity than it deserved.

"In cases in which we feel that sites are attempting to manipulate rankings, we make adjustments to counterbalance and also discourage those efforts," said the spokesman in a statement.

"Certain actions such as cloaking - writing text in such a way that it can be seen by search engines but not by users - or setting up pages/links with the sole purpose of fooling search engines may result in removal from our index," he added.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7955358.stm
 
Mr Ben-Itzhak said people should be very wary of any pop-up window claiming to find evidence of an infection.

"It's impossible to scan your local disk without installing software," he said.
Click to expand...

In that case you'd have to deactivate Java scripts in your browser. There have been (and may still be) whopping big security fuck-ups in Java. There is a at least exploit which allowed remote users to copy the contents of the hard-disk. As for deleting and trashing files? You have to trust the browser and Java software and personally I don't.
 
I know from experience that SUPERAntiSpyware are one of the companies who bombard you with adverts saying you have spyware etc and you should use the product. I had a do a while back with getting bombarded with ads from them, telling me I was infected.
I don't know why they try to force you to use a "free" product. I spose it's so that you think it's wonderful for getting rid of the nasties and so then you go and donate.
Seb.
 
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