Bugs & Viruses Archive

Trading was suspended for an hour at Russia's main stock exchange because of a computer virus, the Russian Trading Systems, or RTS, said Friday. Data processing was paralyzed late Thursday afternoon as specialists rushed to localize the virus and switch off the infected computer, according to a statement from the exchange. No permanent damage was caused and no information was lost. Spokeswoman Zoya Konovkova said it was not clear what virus had led to the shutdown. According to RTS vice president Dmitry Shatskoi, the virus entered the system via a computer used to test new software, which was connected to the Internet.

"It was during the opening weeks of 1986 that the first PC virus, called Brain, was discovered in the wild. Though it achieved fame because it was the first of its type, the virus was not widespread as it could only travel by hitching a ride on floppy disks swapped between users. Now 20 years after they first appeared there are more than 150000 malicious programs in existence."

Virus writers are exploiting Sony's controversial anti-piracy software to hide their malicious creations. In late October Sony was found to be using stealth techniques to hide software that stopped some of its CDs being illegally copied. Now three virus variants have been found that use the Sony software to evade detection by anti-virus programs. The rootkit is also installed on Mac OS X systems.

Anti-spyware advocates cry foul as the popular peer-to-peer protocol becomes the latest mechanism for the stealthy distribution of adware/spyware bundles.

With the increasing convergence of phone and network aware devices, come new and often unnoticed threats. Features such as built-in cameras, wireless networking, Bluetooth, calendars, phone books, all present their own particular problems, and associated risks. My Take: Some claim that mobile devices are developed with less security in mind than any desktop OS ever was and that this will bite back users in a few years when the "mobile platform" becomes less diverse and instead more compatible.