"Last month, Hungary's computer virus landscape was dominated by malicious programs, which download other malicious programs, according to VirusBuster's stats.The Hungary-based specialist of IT security continuously monitors virus occurrence and activity. Data from VirusBuster's mail protection systems -- in-house and externally deployed alike -- is collected, and Freemail, a major Hungarian free webmail service is also monitored for malicious load. VirusBuster uses all these sources to generate monthly statistics of the most frequent infections. These monthly virus toplists are published on the company's website as well (http://www.virusbuster.hu/en/viruslab/virus-toplist).
November's toplist (see below) has three Sasfis variants. Trojan.Sasfis.AZT in itself was observed in more than half of all virus occurences. "These programs are called downloaders. Hiding on the victim's machine, they wait for their master's commands and download other malicious programs (malware)", explains Gábor Szappanos, the head of VirusBuster's virus lab.
IRCBot variants also played an important role last month. The different IRCBots, as well as Worm.SdBot.GAP belong to the family of "botnet" (=robot network) malware, i.e. they organize PCs into networks controlled by hackers. Users normally don't even notice the infection. No wonder that botnet member machines are called "zombies". However, once users detect the infection, they should remove the malware as soon as possible. "Otherwise, unknowingly, they may become accomplices in cybercriminals' activities", Gábor Szappanos warned.
VirusBuster's malware toplist for November 2009:
Malware Share (%)
Trojan.Sasfis.AZT 52.72%
Trojan.Buzus.AOLH 10.29%
Backdoor.IRCBot.AAWX 4.78%
Trojan.Sasfis.AGZ 4.74%
Backdoor.Bandok.GT 3.24%
Worm.SdBot.GAP 2.58%
Trojan.Sasfis.AIA 2.12%
Backdoor.IRCbot.AECD 1.81%
Backdoor.IRCBot.AAXD 1.58%
JS.Mimail.C 1.16%
Other: 14.99%
About VirusBuster Ltd.
With its over 15 years of experience, VirusBuster Ltd. (www.virusbuster.hu) has international reputation in the field of IT security. Based in Budapest, Hungary, the company delivers full-fledged anti-virus and other security solutions on all major platforms to its customers on five continents. Virusbuster’s software has been recognized with numerous prizes and certificates from many independent testing organizations. Its flagship product, VirusBuster Professional, has won several “Virus Bulletin 100%” awards, “Checkmark Anti-Virus Level One” and “CheckVir” certifications. It received the “Desktop/Server Anti-Virus Detection” certification, and, in 2007 and 2008, the “Desktop/Server Anti-Virus Cleaning” certification from ICSA Labs.
The company also attained OESISOK certification in 2008, which proves that its applications are fully interoperable with the network devices of market-leading technology vendors, such as Cisco, Juniper, NORTEL, 3Com and F5, and they are compatible with network protection (endpoint health validator) systems, including NAP, NAC and TNC.
VirusBuster’s experts have gained worldwide recognition, and are regular presenters at international conferences. CEO Julianna Bozsó received the “The IT Director of 2008 award” from the Hungarian Association of IT Companies (IVSZ).
The company was awarded the “Innovative business solution” prize in 2003, and was named as an “IT Hopeful” in 2004. It won two “Distinguished Software Exporter” titles from IVSZ. VirusBuster has been certified as meeting the ISO 9001:2001 quality assurance standard since 2005. In 2009, the company's web store earned a "Fair Business" certificate, and VirusBuster was awarded Hungary's Business Ethics Prize."
Source: VirusBuster
14.12.2009