News

Tigger.A

An unknown data-stealing Trojan horse program is beginning to gain some notoriety and ground as of late.  Since its discovery date (February 25th, 2009), over a quarter-million victims have already been infected.  This if any, should be a good indicator of having a good modern malware and anti-virus protection… of course both up to date.

Aliases’ include:
  • -  Backdoor.Syzoor   (Symantec)
  • -  Trojan.Win32.Monder.bhzd   (Kaspersky Lab)
  • -  Backdoor-DTN!sys   (McAfee)
  • -  Trojan-Spy.Banker!sd6   (PCTools)

So what does Tigger.A do?  Namely, it is the first malware to exploit a specific vulnerability Microsoft patched in mid-October 2008.  This flaw is what’s known as a “privilege escalation” vulnerability, in that it cannot be exploited remotely, and merely allows the attacker to gain access to the almighty “administrator” account in Windows.  At this point, it allows unauthorized access to perform the following actions:

  • -  Steal logon information from various applications, email clients and Web sites, including sites related to financial institutions (i.e. Online stock trading and banking).
  • -  Capture Screen Images and key logging.
  • -  Send web browsing history.
  • -  Provide confidential computer information such as: Stats, Computer Name, and Installed Applications
  • -  Download and execute files from arbitrary URLs.
  • -  Disable specific security risks.

The only thing good that Tigger.A does that is welcome, is that it removes any other malware or viruses that your PC may have in order to hide itself being known and “accidentally” being caught.  As Disney puts the song, “… the wonderful thing about Tiggers, Is Tiggers are a wonderful thing”.  This might not be the case here. 

How do I combat this nasty little bug?  First and foremost, ServiceWorld suggests that your anti-virus and malware programs be current in subscription and up to date.  Second, if you are a little unsure of doing any sort of financial transactions online, ServiceWorld suggests using a Ubuntu Boot CD that you can download HERE. By using this disk, you are able to do your business online without the processes running that may have Tigger.A lurking in the background. 

If you feel that your computer has become infected, and would like help removing the virus, call ServiceWorld Computer Center at (417) 831-7077.
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