Comments on: Massive Malware Outbreak Infects 30,000 Websites http://www.darknet.org.uk/2009/06/massive-malware-outbreak-infects-30000-websites/ Ethical Hacking, Penetration Testing & Computer Security Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:04:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Thomas J. Raef http://www.darknet.org.uk/2009/06/massive-malware-outbreak-infects-30000-websites/#comment-158017 Thomas J. Raef Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:19:57 +0000 http://www.darknet.org.uk/?p=1830#comment-158017 Many of these websites have been infected by webmasters or website owners visiting other infectious websites, getting their PCs infected and the having the virus search their PC for stored FTP username and passwords. Sometimes, the virus also "sniffs" the FTP traffic and steals the username and password from the traffic stream. The original infections we've seen are malicious Flash files and PDFs. Since Adobe Acrobat has had a few vulnerabilities, the cybercriminals have been having a field day infecting websites to deliver infectious PDFs and SWFs, then parlaying that into more website infections knowing that many people have their own website and use FTP to update it. We recommend a few things. 1. Disable Javascript in Adobe Acrobat. You don't need it and with it disabled you eliminate numerous possibilities for infection. 2. If you own a website, don't use FTP. FTP transmits all data including username and password in plain text. Ask your hosting provider if you can use either FTPS or SFTP. These protocols transmit in an encrypted format making much more difficult to sniff. 3. Use a combination of AVG and Malwarebytes to scan and clean your PC. 4. Monitor your website for any changes. Check the code frequently to see if anything has changed. If it has, see if it's something potentially malicious and remove it. 5. Set up a non-administrator account on your PC. Only use the administrator account when you need to install software or drivers. If the currently logged in user can't install software, neither can a virus. If you site gets "hacked" go to www.badwarebusters.org and ask for help. It's a free forum. Hope you found this information more valuable than what you paid for it. Many of these websites have been infected by webmasters or website owners visiting other infectious websites, getting their PCs infected and the having the virus search their PC for stored FTP username and passwords. Sometimes, the virus also “sniffs” the FTP traffic and steals the username and password from the traffic stream.

The original infections we’ve seen are malicious Flash files and PDFs. Since Adobe Acrobat has had a few vulnerabilities, the cybercriminals have been having a field day infecting websites to deliver infectious PDFs and SWFs, then parlaying that into more website infections knowing that many people have their own website and use FTP to update it.

We recommend a few things.

1. Disable Javascript in Adobe Acrobat. You don’t need it and with it disabled you eliminate numerous possibilities for infection.

2. If you own a website, don’t use FTP. FTP transmits all data including username and password in plain text. Ask your hosting provider if you can use either FTPS or SFTP. These protocols transmit in an encrypted format making much more difficult to sniff.

3. Use a combination of AVG and Malwarebytes to scan and clean your PC.

4. Monitor your website for any changes. Check the code frequently to see if anything has changed. If it has, see if it’s something potentially malicious and remove it.

5. Set up a non-administrator account on your PC. Only use the administrator account when you need to install software or drivers. If the currently logged in user can’t install software, neither can a virus.

If you site gets “hacked” go to http://www.badwarebusters.org and ask for help. It’s a free forum.

Hope you found this information more valuable than what you paid for it.

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