Malware downloads on the podium in Vancouver 2010 queries

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Cybercriminals
continue to rely on their victims’ curiosity in order to trick them into downloading
malware on their computers. In the Vancouver 2010 scheme, the malware spreading
mechanism is simple and classic: when the credulous user clicks the link to an
apparently legitimate Web site displayed in the search results page, the
browser is automatically redirected to a Web page that infects the computer
with a PDF Exploit Trojan. This is a generic detection for specially crafted PDF files which
exploit different vulnerabilities found in Adobe PDF Reader’s Javascript
engine, in order to execute malicious code on the user’s computer.

 A comparison of statistics (week
February 12 – 19 to week February 19 – 26, 2010) indicates a significant
increase in the total number of files infected with Exploit.PDF.Payload.Gen, namely
 almost 15% at global level.

Fig. 1 Countries most affected by Exploit.PDF.Payload.Gen (week 19-26
February, 2010)

The data provided by the BitDefender Real-Time Virus Reporting System reflect
the dynamic of this piece of malware in the past week, broken down by country:
in Germany, the number of infected files is up by more than 100%, in Canada infection
cases rose by 26%, France came in third with 12.5%, while the United States scored
nearly 9% of growth in this infection spree.

Even in countries in which this piece of malware has not been as
aggressive so far infection rates are booming. This is the case of Australia, where
the malware toll is up by 32 % . Similarly, Italy is catching up, with a 20% rise
compared to the previous week’s figures.

In order to stay safe, BitDefender recommends you to follow the five security tips below:

• install and activate a reliable antimalware, firewall solution and spam
  filter, such
  as those provided by BitDefender.
• update your antimalware, firewall and spam
  filter as frequently as possible, with the latest virus
  definitions and suspicious application/file signatures.
• scan your system frequently.
• regularly – download and install the
  latest security updates and malicious removal tools as well as other
  patches or fixes released by your operating system provider.
• do not download or save files from
  sources you don’t know; run a complete antimalware scan before opening or
  copying any file to your system, even if the file comes from a trusted
  source.