Desktop Security Software Risks - Part 1

This is the second in a series of articles highlighting reasons why we need a new model for anti-virus and security solutions.

Reason #2: the Desktop Security software Risks

The risks of placing software on the desktop are such that I will be breaking this article into two parts.

Fundamentally we think of having software on our desktops as a good thing. I love downloading or installing new packages and seeing what new creative things people do to the user interface or what they do to make certain aspects of my life easier or more fun.

But there are problems inherent with software that resides on the desktop, especially security software. All developers will know what I mean. First and foremost, desktop software can be reverse engineered. What's that mean? Have you ever inadvertently double-clicked on a file and had garbage show up or seen something that looks similar to this?

http://www.checkinmyemail.com/Articles/image001.jpg

The old hex dump. Programmers will know it well. We actually spend a good deal of time trying to read this stuff. Basically, if there are programs that can (and do) turn instructions like the following

If UserBirthDate < "01/01/1960" then

IsReallyOld = "Yes

Else

IsReallyOld = "No"

End If

into something like the picture above, then the reverse is true: people have developed software that can take that gobbeldy-gook in the picture above and turn it somewhat into the if-statement I wrote out. The reversing software won't know that I had an item called UserBirthDate, but it will know I was testing for a value of January 1, 1960 and it will be able to say that based on that value I set another item to Yes or No.

So now we install our fool-proof anti-virus software on our desktop (or our firewall for that matter). Well, so too can a virus author. And that virus author or hacker will also have gotten a copy of the latest reverse-engineering software from his local hacking site. He now goes upon his task of reverse-engineering the software and then trying to decipher the results. It's not easy but it can be done. Unfortunately, vendors know this and understand this as an acceptable risk.

The problem here is that your security software is at risk. If your vendor codes an error, the virus author can and will detect it. For example, if your vendor should exclude a file from scanning, it's possible the virus author will figure out which file (or type of file) that is and bury his code there. If the vendor excludes files from scanning or heuristics, it's possible that virus author will figure out a way to corrupt that file.

That being said, there are other risks. As we have said, once software is on the desktop it affords virus authors an opportunity to reverse-engineer security software. The knowledge that reverse-engineering provides is invaluable to a virus author when building his next software attack. Third, virus authors can learn where the anti-virus vendors put there software and put the links to their software (directory folders, registry entries, etc.). This too is invaluable information. In fact, in some ways it teaches people intent on writing malicious software clues as to how to infiltrate the computers' operating system, where registry entries need to be made to force software to be loaded every time a computer is started, etc.

This information is generally available all over the web and in manuals for operating systems, especially manuals on such subjects as the Windows Registry. But having the software teach you where things belong to be effective is powerful knowledge.

Lastly, and perhaps most significantly, is the issue of forebeara