PDF malware ranked number one threat

A UK study has highlighted PDF malware as a major threat to computer users.

The quarterly report, from internet security firm Bit Defender, states that the PDF file format has been at the centre of industry criticism for quite some time.

Nick Billington, managing director of Bit Defender UK and Ireland said: “While most people understand to not open attachments or executable files in spam messages, fewer recognise and understand that PDFs can contain malicious code that exploits vulnerabilities in Adobe PDF Reader leaving the PC infected with a virus.”

The malware, known as Exploit.PDF-JS.Gen, is generally used to install rogue anti-virus products, as well as malware such as Zeus, Stuxnet, Oficla, Bredolab. It is used by malware creators as a tool to distribute their malicious code.

At the recent Virus Bulletin 2010 conference in Vancouver, 97 per cent of people voted to abolish the PDF format when a straw-poll was conducted on the issue.

A Bit Defender spokesperson told Computeractive: “Exploit.PDF-JS.Gen was first discovered in November 2008 and saw a dramatic boom in the second half of 2009, when it was among the top five malware threats worldwide. Zeus, for example, saw Exploit.Pdf-JS.Gen as the perfect instrument of dissemination.”

The report also noted the risk of Gen:Variant.Hiloti.1, a new threat that is ranked third on the list. It is designed to mask high-profile malware such as Zeus rendering them undetectable. Known as a ‘packer’, the code is designed by malware authors to hide code.

As always, the need to protect your machine against such threats is hugely important. However, Bit Defender warns that having up-to-date security software is often not enough.

The company said: “Both the operating system and the applications must be updated regularly as well. Furthermore, net surfers should pay great attention to the websites they are accessing or where they choose to write their email addresses, passwords, account IDs and other credentials.”