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Beware. Virus alert. The dawn of pdf based viruses..

Discussion in 'BlackHat Lounge' started by theconjurer, Oct 12, 2009.

  1. Oct 12, 2009
    #1
    theconjurer

    theconjurer Junior Member

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    Hello. I came across this article a while ago and holy shit...give it a read. I mean with the amount of ebooks and all that is circulated in the forum these days...this is a serious security concern or so I would think...

    Code:
    http://securitylabs.websense.com/content/Blogs/3411.aspx
    Just a warning of sorts to everyone here who downloads like a maniac. dont open just about anything..this is some serious shit. or atleast looks like it to me...

    Also, this might not be news to some people here...doens't hurt to refresh your memory.
     
    • Thanks Thanks x 1
  2. Oct 12, 2009
    #2
    jimbobo2779

    jimbobo2779 Jr. VIP Jr. VIP

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    WTF guy its some crap about salt.
     
  3. Oct 13, 2009
    #3
    freelapse

    freelapse Junior Member

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    What? Salt?
     
  4. Oct 13, 2009
    #4
    nowimhere

    nowimhere Regular Member

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    If you are getting pdf's from guru's then this shouldn't effect you.

    Its all those no name guys you have to look out for...

    At least this is as far as I can tell.

    Cheers.
     
  5. Oct 13, 2009
    #5
    electrohedtings

    electrohedtings Registered Member

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    Guru's? haha.

    You sound like one of the many gullable one's from DP falling for all the marketing lingo.
     
  6. Oct 13, 2009
    #6
    buns2345

    buns2345 Newbie

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    ermm hasent PDF virus been out for some time i mean easy to do easy to take out and if u have a firewall then u control what connects to ur internet :)
     
  7. Oct 13, 2009
    #7
    Legion

    Legion Newbie

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    It's always good practice to disable JavaScript in your reader.

    Foxit reader:

    Edit->Preferences->JavaScript->Enable JavaScript Actions
     
  8. Oct 13, 2009
    #8
    kanshu

    kanshu Regular Member

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    Yup. That JavaScript threat from PDF's has been around for quite some time now. But if you have an updated PDF reader from Adobe and you have JavaScript turned off, I don't think it will be a problem. It's more problematic if you download and view the PDF immediately from the browser with the Adobe plug-in.

    In any case, it may be a good time to actually review the alert bulletin.
     
  9. Oct 13, 2009
    #9
    Radix

    Radix Newbie

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    I haven't seen any pdf based trojans or viruses that ranked higher than a medium risk.

    I'm sure some exist. I'm also sure I've picked up the few I discovered from some "guru" rolling out their crap ebook here or on other forums.

    On the topic of ebooks, what percentage of the ones you download do you actually read?

    For me, I'd say it's less than 10%. Not sure why I bother.
     
  10. Oct 13, 2009
    #10
    oxonbeef

    oxonbeef BANNED BANNED

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    If you rely on an AV for your protection your living in a false sense of security.
    Use something that tells you what your Pc is doing instead like Spyware Process Detector v3.19
    The only problem is most computer users don't even know what processes
    are supposed to be running which to me is like driving a car through a
    danerous wilderness and not knowing how to fix it if it breaks down.
    I know 13 year olds that can write a FUD trojan that will bypass a firewall and disable your AV.
     
  11. Oct 13, 2009
    #11
    WizGizmo

    WizGizmo Super Moderator Staff Member Moderator Jr. VIP Premium Member

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    To All:

    I will soon be condensing all of the important sticky rules (in the downloads section) into one comprehensive thread as soon as I have a bit of free time. I will also be sure to include the warning about turning off javascript in Adobe Reader and/or Foxit.

    Thanks For The Heads-Up :)

    Cheers! - "Wiz"
     
    Last edited: Oct 13, 2009
  12. Oct 13, 2009
    #12
    Reelnetwork

    Reelnetwork Power Member

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    Good news, You know i have avoided pdf lot in life, especially because there files are pretty dumb too, My printer slowly prints them.
     
  13. Oct 13, 2009
    #13
    krish22

    krish22 Registered Member

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    yes! i was ignorant as far as this is concerned. thanks added.:)
     
  14. Oct 13, 2009
    #14
    HairSpray

    HairSpray Junior Member

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    Make sure your OS is up to date. And most importantly set Adobe to automatically update. These exploits have been around for a long time and Adobe have always patched it.