McAfee warns of biggest malware detection in years
1 min read
Manufacturers are being warned to be on their guard against “the most significant malware outbreak in three years”.
The alert comes from McAfee Avert Labs, which claims more than 500,000 detections of a Trojan horse masquerading as a media file on consumer PCs since last Friday.
Craig Schmugar, threat researcher at McAfee Avert Labs, says that the malicious MP3 music or MPEG video files have appeared on popular file-sharing services, such as Limewire and eDonkey.
McAfee rates the threat ‘medium’ risk – a level not achieved by any other malware since 2005. “This is one of the most prevalent pieces of malware in the last three years,” says Schmugar. “We have never before had a threat this significance that arrives as a media file.”
He believes that cyber crooks loaded hundreds of rigged MP3 and MPEG files onto the file-swapping services, and warns that the files are all named differently in multiple languages and vary in size to make them appear like legitimate music or video files.
Attempting to play one of the malicious files will trigger the download of an application named ‘PLAY_MP3.exe’ that will serve ads to the infected computer.
Meanwhile, McAfee says it will be launching a Secure Search Service and ‘McAfee Secure’ Trust mark this summer, which, it claims, will lead to a more secure Internet.
Previewing the release, the organisation says that McAfee Secure for Web Sites will combine security testing, business practice review, Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance certification, and ongoing vulnerability evaluation for website owners and online retailers.
The McAfee Secure Search Service will be available via the McAfee SiteAdvisor toolbar and released to existing and new SiteAdvisor users free of charge later this quarter. Within search results, users will see the now classic green, yellow and red ratings that indicate whether a site is safe. They will also see McAfee Secure sites.
