Business Services Industry

Second Variant of Sony DRM Trojan Detected and Protected by BitDefender; Company's HiVE Technology Enables Detection of New Variation Before Competing AntiVirus Solutions

Business Wire, Nov 11, 2005

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- BitDefender(TM), an award-winning provider of antivirus software and data security solutions, announced today that its HiVE technology enabled the detection of a new, second variation of the Sony DRM backdoor Trojan, named Backdoor.IRC.Synd.B. This new variation of the highly publicized Trojan was proactively detected by BitDefender's Labs through behavioral detection made possible through the HiVE virtual environment.

Similar to the first Trojan found earlier today but written with a new digital signature to get past anti-virus defenses, this new version also uses the cover provided by the Sony DRM component to hide itself. Changes found by BitDefender in this new variant include reparation of the bugs from the first version, a change of the file name to "$sys$xp.exe", change of the IRC channel name, as well as some additional minor technical changes.

"BitDefender's HiVE technology enabled us to detect the second variant of the virus without any need for additional signatures," commented Viorel Canja, head of BitDefender Labs. "While this new strain is also in the wild, BitDefender will continue to monitor for any additional variations of the Sony DRM Trojan. BitDefender is committed to being one step ahead of virus writers, so that our customers can feel confident that they are always protected."

According to BitDefender Labs, this new Trojan installs an IRC backdoor on the affected system and may have other functions. BitDefender is currently conducting further analysis on the Trojan and will publish further analysis to its corporate website, http://www.bitdefender.com.

About BitDefender(TM)

BitDefender is a leading provider of security solutions that satisfy the protection requirements of today's computing environment. The company offers the industry's fastest and most effective line of anti-virus and email security defense, setting new standards for timely threat detection and for simple installation, use and updates. BitDefender delivers effective threat management for over 41 million home and corporate users in more than 100 countries. BitDefender is a division of SOFTWIN and is headquartered in Bucharest, Romania, with offices in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Tettnang, Germany; and Barcelona, Spain. Further information about BitDefender can be obtained by visiting: http://www.bitdefender.com/us.>