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Bit9’s newsletter for December 20, 2006
New Malware Knows When to Hide, When to RunIn a recent sampling of malicious software from the SANS Institute’s honeypot, 3 out of 12 specimens found were virtual-machine aware. Since many malware researchers conduct their testing within virtual machines such as VMWare or Microsoft Virtual PC, these specimens are equipped with the ability to turn off any incriminating behavior when being tested – thereby securing a clean bill of health. Then, when the malware gets out in the real world, it has free reign.
This is just the latest example of how malicious software can evolve and adapt to the environment in which it is running. In fact, there are even more advanced classes of these types of attacks – such as Blue Pill – that leverage hardware-based virtualization to subsume an already-running OS, thereby giving the malware complete and undetectable control of the PC. All this activity underscores the need for companies to prevent malware from ever running in the first place.
Vista's User Account Control: A First Look
The Windows Insight blog has a good overview of Vista’s new User Account Control feature, geared towards users familiar with Windows XP. While this feature is conceptually solid and holds many security benefits, users and IT administrators will definitely notice it. UAC is present throughout Vista’s user interface, and consent or password dialogs will pop up every time the user attempts to install software or use an advanced feature. So the question is raised: will enterprise users – and the Windows admins that support them –
- Welcome the additional clicks and the security they offer?
- Dismiss them blindly, invalidating their usefulness?
Or, - Demand that IT turn off UAC because it gets in the way?
This was one of the original viral videos – well before YouTube or even the popular movie Office Space made this kind of thing mainstream. If you’ve seen it before… reminisce. If you haven’t, it should give you a chuckle.
December's eBook is Now Available
"Designing Active Directory for Group Policy" from Active Directory Services Design Exam Cram™ 2 by Dennis Scheil, Diana HuggDownload your eBook today.
In a networking environment, administrators need some way of employing standards for client workstations and supervising their computing environments. This month's eBook will tell you everything you need to know about Group Policy. This indispensable administrative tool can be used to administer different aspects of the client computing environment, from installing software to applying a standardized desktop.
