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Spyware still hijacking Internet Explorer

Anti-spyware companies have warned users to be aware of a malicious program that hijacks Web searches and disables security settings in the Internet Explorer (IE) browser.

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According to anti-spyware company Webroot on Tuesday, spyware program CoolWebSearch self-installs malicious HTML applications and exploits security flaws in IE. "This has vexed all of us," said Nick Lewis, managing director of Webroot. "For consumers, CoolWebSearch is probably on of the most vicious programs in terms of how nasty it is. It completely hijacks the browser so you can't do anything." Webroot said that CoolWebSearch is the most dangerous program in its latest list of the 10 worst spyware and adware threats. The company's threat research team has also discovered new versions of rogue diallers, keystroke loggers and pornographic Web page displayers. "The people who write this stuff are gaining sophistication in their coding practices as they attempt to evade detection and removal," said Richard Stiennon, Webroot's vice-president of threat research. "These 10 are the most insidious programs in terms of prevalence and effect." Webroot's list of top 10 threats includes PurityScan, a program that displays pop-up ads onto computers and claims it can delete pornographic images on the user's computer; Transponder (vx2), an Internet Explorer "browser helper object" that monitors Web browsing and sends relevant advertisements; KeenValue, an adware program that collects personal information and sends advertisements to users; and Perfect Keylogger, a monitoring tool that records Web sites visited, keystrokes and mouse clicks. It logs passwords, account numbers and other sensitive information. Webroot recommends that users should install Microsoft security patches, avoid using freeware and disable downloads via ActiveX in Internet Explorer. "It's Internet users' choice to keep or remove these programs based on the information available to them," said Stiennon. "We’re making sure they have that information so they are making knowledgeable decisions."

Microsoft won't wait until next regular update to fix severe browser flaw

By Associated Press7:54 AM EST, December 17, 2008 REDMOND, Wash. (AP) — Microsoft Corp. is taking the unusual step of issuing an emergency fix for a security hole in its Internet Explorer software that has exposed millions of users to having their computers taken over by hackers.

The "zero-day" vulnerability, which came to light last week, allows criminals to take over victims' machines simply by steering them to infected Web sites; users don't have to download anything for their computers to get infected, which makes the flaw in Internet Explorer's programming code so dangerous. Internet Explorer is the world's most widely used Web browser.

Microsoft said it plans to ship a security update, rated "critical," for the browser on Wednesday. People with the Windows Update feature activated on their computers will get the patch automatically.

Thousands of Web sites already have been compromised by criminals looking to exploit the flaw. The bad guys have loaded malicious code onto those sites that automatically infect visitors' machines if they're using Internet Explorer and haven't employed a complicated series of workarounds that Microsoft has suggested.
Microsoft said it has seen attacks targeting the flaw only in Internet Explorer 7, the most widely used version, but has cautioned that all other current editions of the browser are vulnerable.

Microsoft rarely issues security fixes for its software outside of its regular monthly updates. The company last did it in October, and a year and half before that.

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On the Net:

Microsoft's security advisory:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/961051.mspxsource :
ZDnet > News > Security
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