Trojans Continue to Dominate BitDefender s Top Ten E-Threats in May

An infection technique, the autorun.inf exploitation code, takes top spot on the list

BitDefender today released the ten most prevelant threats facing Internet users in the month of May. The list continues to be dominated by Trojans, as it was in April. The simple user-interaction driven pieces of malware occupy six of the top ten spots on the list.

First place on BitDefenders Top Ten E-Threats in May does not go to a piece malware, but rather to an infection technique - the autorun.inf exploitation code found in threats such as Conficker and Sality. With 9.93 percent of detections, it is the most widespread exploit and the top e-threat of the month.

Trojan.Clicker.CM, a popup-serving program, takes second place with 9.23 percent of detections.

Third place goes to the Wimad trojan, an e-threat which masquerades as a video player with 5.34 percent of detections.

Fourth place goes to Exploit.SWF.Gen, heavily used in malicious and compromised websites worldwide, with 4.33 percent of detections.

Conficker claims the fifth spot on BitDefenders Top Ten E-Threats in May with 3.12 percent of detected infections.

A dangerous polymorphic file infector, Win32.Sality.OG, claims sixth place. The virus infects executable files as well as network shares, re-writing itself in the process to avoid signature-based scanners. Once an infected file is executed directly, or the drive it resides in gets opened with the "Autorun" option enabled, the virus installs a rootkit on the affected computer. The rootkit gives the attacker complete control, while the virus itself, oddly, acts as a port-scanner, trying to find open UDP services on random computers.

The Storm Worm takes the seventh spot on the list as a dropped component, which means it is not spreading on its own but rather it is being installed by another e-threat, presumably to be used as a "remote control" for the infected computer.

The Peed Trojan claims the eighth spot on BitDefenders Top Ten E-Threats in May with 1.9 percent of detections.

Trojan.Autorun.AET, a trojan which spreads through shared folders via the Autorun misfeature in Windows takes ninth place.

A new addition to the list, Trojan.JS.PYV, takes the last spot on the list with 1.73 percent of detected infections.

BitDefenders May 2009 Top 10 E-Threat list includes:

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