25 Percent of New Worms in 2010 Are Designed to Spread Through USB Devices, According to PandaLabs

ORLANDO, Fla., Aug. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- PandaLabs, Panda Security's antimalware laboratory, has discovered that in 2010, 25 percent of new worms have been specifically designed to spread through USB storage devices connected to computers. These types of threats can copy themselves to any device capable of storing information such as cell phones, external hard drives, DVDs, flash memories and MP3/4 players.  

The data from Panda Security's Second International SMB Security Barometer suggests that this distribution technique is highly effective. With survey responses from more than 10,470 companies across 20 countries, it was revealed that approximately 48 percent of SMBs (with up to 1,000 computers) admit to having been infected by some type of malware over the last year. As further proof, 27 percent confirmed that the source of the infection was a USB device connected to a computer.

According to Luis Corrons, Technical Director of PandaLabs, "At present, much of the malware in circulation has been designed to distribute through these devices. Not only does it copy itself to these gadgets, but it also runs automatically when a USB device is connected to a computer, infecting the system practically transparently to the user. This has been the case with many infections we have seen this year, such as the distribution of the Mariposa and Vodafone botnets."

So far, these types of infections are still outnumbered by those that spread via email, but it is a growing trend. "There are now so many devices on the market that can be connected via USB to a computer: digital cameras, cell phones, MP3 or MP4 players," adds Corrons. "This is clearly very convenient for users, but since all these devices have memory cards or internal memory, it is feasible that your cell phone could be carrying a virus without your knowledge."

How Does it Work?

There is an increasing amount of malware which, like the dangerous Conficker worm, spreads via removable devices and drives such as memory sticks, MP3 players and digital cameras. The basic technique used is as follows: Windows uses the Autorun.inf file on these drives or devices to know which action to take whenever they are connected to a computer. This file, which is on the root directory of the device, offers the option to automatically run part of the content on the device when it connects to a computer. By modifying Autorun.inf with specific commands, cyber-crooks can enable malware stored on the USB drive to run automatically when the device connects to a computer, thus immediately infecting the computer in question.

To prevent this, Panda Security has developed Panda USB Vaccine, a free product which offers a double layer of preventive protection, disabling the AutoRun feature on computers as well as on USB drives and other devices.

"Since there is no simple way of disabling the AutoRun feature in Windows, this is a very useful tool that makes protection simple for users and offers a high level of security against infections through removable drives and devices," explains Luis Corrons, Technical Director of PandaLabs.

Download Panda USB Vaccine free from: http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/downloads/usbvaccine/

More information about the Second International SMB Security Barometer is available at: http://press.pandasecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/2nd-International-Security-Barometer.pdf

About Panda Security

Founded in 1990, Panda Security is the world's leading provider of cloud-based security solutions, with products available in more than 23 languages and millions of users located in 195 countries around the world. Panda Security was the first IT security company to harness the power of cloud computing with its Collective Intelligence technology. This innovative security model can automatically analyze and classify thousands of new malware samples every day, guaranteeing corporate customers and home users the most effective protection against Internet threats with minimum impact on system performance. Panda Security has 56 offices throughout the globe with US headquarters in Florida and European headquarters in Spain. For more information, visit http://www.pandasecurity.com/.

SOURCE Panda Security