Vietnamese Users Affected From Viruses & Bogus Anti-viruses in 2009

According to Back Khoa Network Security Center or BKIS (an Internetwork Security Center in Vietnam), during 2009, viruses heavily attacked computer systems in Vietnam.

BKIS states that the virus, which caused infection on 483,000 computers, was SalityVF.PE. It is the most prevalent virus in the country, as reported by Vietnam BRIDGE on January 21, 2010.

A metamorphic worm, SalityVF.PE, overwrites its own script using a particular infection or a collective of infections. However, the function of the worm remains unchanged every time.

The security researchers have explained that the overwriting of script gives each infection a varied appearance from the other. However, the changes don't influence the script's functionality. Consequently, the malware manages to evade identification by anti-malware applications.

Apart from SalityVF.PE, one more metamorphic virus called W32.Vector.PE too infected numerous PCs across Vietnam during 2009. According to BKIS' estimates, these viruses infected 2.2 Million computers in the country.

Both the worms caused severe hazards to Vietnamese computers and destroyed their stored data. This suggests that there had been an increase in the number of viruses and they became more complex during the year, as per the security researchers.

Because of the volume of infections caused by the two viruses, BKIS concludes that they posed as challenges to computer users as well as anti-virus vendors.

Fake anti-virus programs also emerged in increasing numbers during 2009, confusing end-users in Vietnam.

According to the researchers, by utilizing search engines or sending e-mails, hackers lured users to visit bogus anti-virus websites that contained Windows-style interfaces. Thus, when victims accessed those websites, they downloaded phony AV malware on their computers.

Expressing his view on this issue, Nguyen Tu Quang, Founder and CEO of BKIS, stated that the anti-virus products would keep on increasing both in number and quality as people extensively and intensively relied on the Internet and information systems. The growth would be further hastened when the use of cloud computing becomes a trend. Thus, data wouldn't only be stored on people's own computers, but in data repositories within private and public clouds too. However, this would expand the security risks, Quang explained, as reported by ZDNet on January 21, 2010.

Related article: Vietnam – Nearly 4,000 New Computer Viruses Detected in October 2008

» SPAMfighter News - 1/30/2010