computer anti-virus info

Fortinet® -- the pioneer and leading provider of unified threat management (UTM) solutions -- today announced the top 10 most reported high-risk threats for March 2007. The report, compiled from all FortiGate™ multi-threat security systems in production worldwide, is a service of the Fortinet Global Threat Research Team.

March 2007's top 10 threats, as determined by the degree of prevalence are: The March top 10 list shows a wide-spread phishing attempt against a new financial institution, the return of 180Solutions Adware, and, an unusual entry into the top 10, the Everda rootkit. This rootkit is used to hide file and registry information by patching the kernel service descriptor table. As with any emerging rootkit technology, Everda can cause issues with host-based antivirus or antispyware software, since rootkits are harder to detect once installed.

Most notable this month, the Fortinet Global Security Research Team discovered a new instance of a MySpace "phisher...

Prevx, a leading developer of Automated Malware Research, today announced that it has developed a detection and removal tool that will allow users to check their PCs for the presence of the high risk Gromozon/LinkOptimizer Rootkit, and associated PC infections. These originated on Gromozon.com but are now carried by a growing number of websites. The tool is free, it performs a thorough analysis of the users PC to detect and if necessary remove the Gromozon infection.

Once installed, the Gromozon Rootkit is virtually undetectable by PC users and allows their PCs to be used for any purpose without their knowledge including downloading additional malware, information/identity theft and click fraud.

The detection and removal tool is available for free download from the web at http://www.prevx.com/GromozonRemoval.

Gromozon uses the highly credible Google name to misrepresent its identity. One of the strains creates a file called...

Prevx, a leading developer of Automated Malware Research, has spotted a substantial increase in malware and spyware infection rates among new PC owners. In the last two months, a number of malicious malware and spyware entities -- including Spyware Quake, Spy Falcon and Trojan.Taskdir -- have achieved significant penetration into tens of thousands of computers belonging to users of pre-shipped trial security products, particularly those shipped with new PCs.

Spyware Quake, Spy Falcon and Trojan.Taskdir are clear examples of the type of state-of-the-art spyware which has readily evaded detection by older and weaker security products to infect a large number of PCs. These spyware entities infect a PC, display a bogus warning that the PC is infected by a multitude of different pests and then promote themselves as the solution. Many users fall for the scam and part with $30 or more, only to find that the real infection still exists. Once infected the user's PC can be force-fed with jus...

While 98 percent of organizations reported implementing an anti-virus solution, nearly 84 percent reported a virus attack at least once over the course of a year, according to the 2005 FBI Computer Crime Survey. GFI Software, an international leader and developer of network security, content security and messaging software, offers a unique email security solution that hosts multiple anti-virus engines from different vendors. GFI Software announced today the most comprehensive email security solution offering on the market, GFI MailSecurity 10, which features a new anti-virus engine, GRISOFT AVG, guaranteeing a higher detection rate and faster response to new viruses, and RSS quarantine feeds, providing more convenient quarantine monitoring.

The addition of GRISOFT AVG brings a company with 15 years of experience in the anti-virus industry, employing some of the world's leading experts in anti-virus software, specifically in the areas of virus analysis and detection. GRISOFT AVG add...