Re: Re: New Virus?

[Brian Eckman <eckman () umn edu>]

Nick FitzGerald wrote:
...
> Here is a list of the suspicious file 
> submission addresses of several well-known AV developers -- send the 
> .HTA and the .EXEs to those you consider trustworthy:
>
>    Command Software             <virus () commandcom com>
>    Computer Associates (US)     <virus () ca com>
>    Computer Associates (Vet/EZ) <ipevirus () vet com au>
>    DialogueScience (Dr. Web)    <Antivir () dials ru>
>    Eset (NOD32)                 <sample () nod32 com>
>    F-Secure Corp.               <samples () f-secure com>
>    Frisk Software (F-PROT)      <viruslab () f-prot com>
>    Grisoft (AVG)                <virus () grisoft cz>
>    H+BEDV (AntiVir):            <virus () antivir de>
>    Kaspersky Labs               <newvirus () kaspersky com>
>    Network Associates (McAfee)  <virus_research () nai com>
>    Norman (NVC)                 <analysis () norman no>
>    Sophos Plc.                  <support () sophos com>
>    Symantec (Norton)            <avsubmit () symantec com>
>    Trend Micro (PC-cillin)      <virus_doctor () trendmicro com>
>      (Trend may only accept files from users of its products)
...

First off, Nick, thanks a bunch for sharing that info with the list.

FYI, I sent in a sample to NAI using the above address. I got an 
autoreply that it was received, then another autoreply that it was not a 
known threat and that it was being forwarded to an AVERT researcher. So, 
I deleted the backdoor trojan, as I had already submitted it to the 
company we have a site license with. (I sent it into NAI as the computer 
that was infected with it had McAfee on it.)

Later, I got an E-mail that they had a virus gateway strip the sample 
out of my message as "potentially unsafe", and gave me further 
instructions. They suggested using http://www.webimmune.net and/or 
zipping it and password protecting it, using the password "infected".

I imagine I'm not the only one amused by the fact that they want you to 
send malware to them in a password protected Zip file, (in light of 
recent Bagle variants :). I also find it oddly amusing (being that I am 
not a paying customer of theirs, and that only a few hundred or so 
people on my campus likely are) that they would filter potentially 
harmful attachments that were sent to a virus submission E-mail address.

I'll have to tell the user to use our site licensed AV software instead 
if they want to detect this threat in the future. (Actually, it is 
probably still in my sent items, so I probably can comply with their 
request. I'm just a bit perturbed that they acknowledged receipt of it, 
then they deleted it. (Paying customers might want to take note that 
they had their hands on something that a competitor identified as a 
backdoor trojan, but NAI still cannot detect it because they filtered 
E-mail sent via a virus submission address.)

Just thought I'd share my experience. Perhaps it will save someone else 
the frustration that I had.

Brian
--
Brian Eckman
Security Analyst
OIT Security and Assurance
University of Minnesota


"There are 10 types of people in this world. Those who
understand binary and those who don't."

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