Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
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Cabal @ 3rd Nov 05:03PM:
Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
quote:
We grabbed the next 10 unique samples that arrived in the SophosLabs feed to see how well the newer, more secure version of Windows and UAC held up. Unfortunately, despite Microsoft's claims, Windows 7 disappointed just like earlier versions of Windows. The good news is that, of the freshest 10 samples that arrived, 2 would not operate correctly under Windows 7.
User Account Control did block one sample; however, its failure to block anything else just reinforces my warning prior to the Windows 7 launch that UAC's default configuration is not effective at protecting a PC from modern malware.
Lesson learned? You still need to run anti-virus on Windows 7.
Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
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Cudni @ 3rd Nov 05:24PM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
If only AV companies could claim they can stop all modern malware effectively. With common sense failure, insufficient education and lack of awarness of the dangers on the net nothing can
Cudni
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Kearnstd @ 3rd Nov 05:33PM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
well just remember the crapware/virus makers have had the OS for awhile too just as the legit users with betas and RCs have.
AV software is important, as is not using IE. and of course most important factor in infection prevention is user education. i think most bad things get onto a computer because someone clicks "yes"
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Link Logger @ 3rd Nov 07:04PM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
Anyone got a copy of Troj/FakeAV-AFY or Troj/FakeAV-AFX they can send me?
Blake
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sMh @ 3rd Nov 07:21PM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
What exactly happened?
a) Ran malware - no UAC prompt - user infected
b) Ran malware - UAC prompt - Clicked 'Yes' - user infected
c) Ran malware - UAC prompt - Clicked 'No' - user infected
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Link Logger @ 3rd Nov 07:35PM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
said by sMh :
What exactly happened?
a) Ran malware - no UAC prompt - user infected
b) Ran malware - UAC prompt - Clicked 'Yes' - user infected
c) Ran malware - UAC prompt - Clicked 'No' - user infected
Oh your taking my fun out of this as I wanted those viruses so I could see the install process as this is what I was thinking.
Blake
Edit - Sometimes I think UAC should be a great big hammer which comes out and pounds the keyboard and mouse into little bits as that is what is needed to protect some users.
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jerry666 @ 3rd Nov 07:42PM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
Well they ain't going to sell many AV if windows blocked them all . What were the parameters ? Click yess to all the virus prompts and hope win-7 is smarter than the operator , or did these virus infect it with no user involvement ? Were they limited accounts or admin with UAC ?
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Its a Secret @ 3rd Nov 07:56PM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
People forget the bad guys are always upping their game, so this is not a surprise. XP still has vulnerabilities exposed because the sophistication of the miscreant's increases, and with new attack vectors.
'Tis the nature of the beast in my mind.
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JohnInSJ @ 3rd Nov 08:29PM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
said by sMh :
What exactly happened?
a) Ran malware - no UAC prompt - user infected
b) Ran malware - UAC prompt - Clicked 'Yes' - user infected
c) Ran malware - UAC prompt - Clicked 'No' - user infected
*user* infected vs *machine* infected is kinda a big difference, though. Was the machine infected, or just the user account?
There is no protection from a highly motivated stupid user. Especially one with admin rights.
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Tommyastro @ 3rd Nov 08:57PM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
Wow, what a shock!
NOT!
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Simba7 @ 3rd Nov 11:15PM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
It doesn't surprise me.
Sure, a machine without AV is going to get infected. That's obvious. Why do you think I suggest ESET all the time?
No OS is completely safe from viruses/hackers/etc. I'm just glad Windows 7 fixed the joke that was Vista.
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tempnexus @ 3rd Nov 11:15PM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
I honestly think it was:
Download- Click Install under Admin Rights - UAC pops up with red banner asking "WTF are you doing? You are about to overwrite system32 with gaypron? " - user selects YES -"UAC pops up again saying WOW dude the process wants raw access into your C drive are you sure about that?" - user selects YES - WIndows Defender Pops up saying "Hey hey all of your sites in the host file are being all redirect to IllGaySite.nk are you sure?" -- user selects YES.
SYSTEM INFECTED.....GOTTA write a story about it so our AV company can stay in business. Not like Sophos actually does a decent job in detection anyhow, but circumventing all saveguards instigated in Windows still allows a malicious file to infect it. It's like opening a syringe and filling it up with a vial take out of a Class III biosafety cabinet in BSL4 lab and then taking off your Positive pressure personnel suit to inject it into your veins just to see if indeed can infect you.
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urbanriot @ 3rd Nov 11:30PM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
I wouldn't be surprised if they did this for media attention, by testing 100 viruses and finding only 8 that can infect Windows 7. Drop that 100 down to 10 and it sounds sensationalist.
Windows Vista has been incredibly safe for our home users that download plenty of sketchy files, considerably more than XP users. I doubt Windows 7 is less secure than Vista.
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Its a Secret @ 3rd Nov 11:32PM:
Uhh, dude?
It said "Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses". Not the inverse.
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urbanriot @ 3rd Nov 11:50PM:
Re: Uhh, dude?
Huh? You might have misunderstood my point.
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Simba7 @ 3rd Nov 11:52PM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
How much you wanna bet that Chester's a Mac Fanboi?
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AlexandreG @ 4th Nov 12:04AM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
Yeah.. I would love to have more details...
First of all, it is probably the default UAC settings, that are not as good as vista was (but less annoying)...
And if they include user action (pressing yes on the UAC prompt)... I mean... There is just nothing but... NOTHING! possible to do against the user actions... If you clic yes, it's YOUR fault... the computer defenses were working and you chose to ignore them...
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Its a Secret @ 4th Nov 12:18AM:
Re: Uhh, dude?
I may have. Thanks for that.
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cork1958 @ 4th Nov 07:17AM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
said by Tommyastro :
Wow, what a shock!
NOT!
+1
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siljaline @ 4th Nov 08:53AM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
That would be naked-out-of-the-box :D
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JohnInSJ @ 4th Nov 09:24AM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
It still says nothing about the user rights of the logged in user, or if the infections were limited to that specific user account or to the base OS.
Both of these points are critical to evaluating the claims. Cleaning up a borked user account is childs play. Cleaning a borked machine is not.
The "change" in UAC in windows 7 is that, by default, the annoyance slider is one tick down vs. vista. That's pretty much it.
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siljaline @ 4th Nov 12:56PM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
Noted, perhaps this will change come Win 7 SP1 ?
Windows 7 SP1 beta rumored by end of 2009, RTM summer 2010
»arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2···2010.ars
»www.neowin.net/news/main/09/11/0···-surface
Edit to add:
Sophos: Win 7 vulnerable to 8/10 viruses,FUD alert
»www.neowin.net/news/main/09/11/0···ud-alert
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anon @ 4th Nov 02:35PM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
Hmmm did they use default 7 UAC settings or Vista UAC settings? I wonder if they set UAC to "Always notify" and see what happened.
Do you know that Windows 7 UAC settings allow to completely turn off UAC without a single UAC prompt? That didn't make any sense to me.
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tempnexus @ 4th Nov 02:38PM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
I vote for the old Kasperksy Squealing Pig sound for anytime you turn off UAC.
That damn thing woke me up at 4 am many times when my PC was set to perform a system scan and I forgot to turn off my speakers.
Nothing like an angry squealing pig to wake you up at 4 am.
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MarkAW @ 4th Nov 04:09PM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
I wonder if matunga seen this thread before he started this one.
»Bug in latest Linux gives untrusted users root access
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kw @ 4th Nov 04:43PM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
I work at a walk-up helpdesk at my University and we deal with spyware/virus infections on a daily basis. I'd say at least 90% of the "problem machines" (machines heavily infected/in need of formatting) are XP machines.
We rarely get a Vista machine. Not saying it doesn't happen, just an observation.
I think having an extra layer (even if its ineffective most of the time) is better than nothing
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TSI Gabe @ 4th Nov 04:57PM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
said by tempnexus :
I vote for the old Kasperksy Squealing Pig sound for anytime you turn off UAC.
That damn thing woke me up at 4 am many times when my PC was set to perform a system scan and I forgot to turn off my speakers.
Nothing like an angry squealing pig to wake you up at 4 am.
ROFL. omg that brought up bad memories.
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anon @ 4th Nov 06:29PM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
Same observation at my shop. I get tons of Vista machines going through it.. and barely see much infections on those. XP on other hands................... way too much.
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Its a Secret @ 4th Nov 08:12PM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
said by TSI Gabe :said by tempnexus :
I vote for the old Kasperksy Squealing Pig sound for anytime you turn off UAC.
That damn thing woke me up at 4 am many times when my PC was set to perform a system scan and I forgot to turn off my speakers.
Nothing like an angry squealing pig to wake you up at 4 am.
ROFL. omg that brought up bad memories.
Uhh, Deliverance? :D
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"In the future, that which is not mandatory will be illegal"
"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everybody agrees that it is old enough to know better" - Anonymous
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shrine @ 4th Nov 09:07PM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
Another useless Microsoft security model? Big, big surprise.
I wonder why everyone sees the need to defend and divert blame from Microsoft? Are we really that jaded by decades of insecurity, paranoia, and defenselessness with Windows? Oh, right, we are..
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Its a Secret @ 4th Nov 09:35PM:
Re: Sophos: Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
said by shrine :
I wonder why everyone sees the need to defend and divert blame from Microsoft?
Please define "everyone". There are a few here that didn't defend this. And that, friend dispels the notion of "everyone" quite handily.
--
"In the future, that which is not mandatory will be illegal"
"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everybody agrees that it is old enough to know better" - Anonymous
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