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The Race Against Sober - Speed is the Name of the Game |
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November 24, 2005
AVIRA-AntiVir® Virus Labs recently warned against the massive spreading of the Sober.Y (CME 681) worm, already accounted for the worst malware outbreak in 2005 in terms of absolute numbers.
It is official now: according to independent tests conducted by Magdeburg University-based AV-Test.org, AVIRA-AntiVir® came out first, achieving the fastest outbreak response. This is not an easy-to-neglect detail, as the AntiVir® technology scored high both on heuristic as on signature detection: Sober.Y could be blocked in real-time, due to the heuristic behavior analysis, with a VDF (Virus Definition File) update that was available long before Sober.Y even began to spread. Moreover, the specific detection added by AVIRA-AntiVir® on November 15 tops the reaction times published by AV-Test.org. Other AV vendors follow at large time intervals, ranging from more than one day to almost a week.
According to AVIRA-AntiVir® Labs, Sober.Y has managed to climb the malware top at an alarming speed. Thus, in only three days time, this cyber threat has reached the 3rd position in the monthly virus ranking, at the count is still on.
As advised, this bilingual menace has turned into one of the strongest Sober worms ever, after being seeded by family members, that is, Sober versions T, U, V, W, X, AA. Aside from this unusual tactic, its recipe for success is ensured by a rather classic ingredient: social engineering. Sober.Y arrives attached to e-mail messages, claiming to be sent by many entities, first among which the FBI for English speakers and BKA - Bundeskriminalamt (Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office) for German ones.
Antivirus Virus Lab specialists feel that there is one particular comment to make. AVIRA-AntiVir® users were protected at all times, be it by heuristic or specific detection, and most AV vendors provided timely protection against the Sober.Y worm. However, Sober becoming the worst malware outbreak in 2005 may show us that some computer users did not do their homework this time: they did not update their virus shields in quite a while or did not have any AV protection at all.
Considering heuristic detection in this industry is still under heavy improvement, AVIRA-AntiVir® virus researchers strongly recommend computer users to perform frequent updates of their AV solutions in order to prevent severe outbreaks, such as the current epidemic caused by Sober.Y.
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