Privacy, Security & Virus Information

Zeus Attacks Adobe From Another Angle

Reports are now beginning to emerge that the super powerful Zeus botnet has detected yet another un-patched flaw in Adobe's PDF document format and is using it to infect unprotected computers with particularly malicious code. The increased proliferation of easy download PDF documents on the web has leaded to increased frequency of malware attacks.

These recent attacks are proving very worrisome for industry software giants Adobe, as they come less than a week after r predictions that hackers had identified and isolated another design flaw the Launch sequence of Adobe Acrobat and were liable to exploit it.

According to industry security experts, the recently spotted Zeus clone hides under the cover of a malicious PDF file that, when downloaded, unleashes a particularly virulent attack. Some versions of the virus have been discovered in a mock PDF file titled "Royal_Mail_Delivery_Notice.pdf which if it is not detected and quarantined will do considerable damage to a PC's security.

Zeus has been one of the most difficult botnets that the computer software security industry has had to cope with, as it consistently manages to re-invent itself, each time becoming stronger and more versatile in its attack ability. It has also become the first major botnet that has succeeded in exploiting Adobe PDF's/Launch feature.

Despite the fact that Adobe's Reader and Acrobat will issue display a warning pop-up when an executable inside a PDF file is discovered upon launching either of these softwares, many users tend to overlook the warning and continue with launching the bogus document. The hackers have taken advantage of the fact that people in the business or the professional world tend to trust PDFs more even than some other popular document formats, such as Microsoft's Word.

After the attack became common knowledge, Adobe did not immediately acknowledge the problem, and seemed reluctant to answer questions about whether the company would release a patch for Reader and Acrobat, instead, urging users to change Reader's and Acrobat's settings to disable the vulnerable function.

Computer hacker increased ability to target and attack security flaws at all levels should further convince computer owners and users to protect the information stored on their computers. They only way that they will enjoy continuous success in their goal is by installing the most powerful anti-virus software available. The professional anti-virus software developers are usually the ones who discover these virus attacks long before even the companies who are the subject of the attacks themselves, as was the case with the latest Zeus attacks.

 

< Back