Panda: Boot Sector Viruses Set For A Comeback?

Ars Technica recently covered Panda's malware report for Q1 2008 - and they note that Panda makes a surprising prediction that boot sector viruses will become more popular again.

Panda's list is interesting - they mention mobile phone and device viruses, a market which has had AV solutions for quite a while, but which hasn't seen a real widespread threat. They also cover the Storm worm, which has been one of the most visible and largest of the recent widespread viruses. Then, surprising to both myself and the Ars Technica writing staff, they spend quite a few pages covering boot sector viruses.

Many newer IT workers likely haven't dealt with boot sector viruses - they haven't been a serious mainstream threat in almost a decade. We're used to seeing worms, and email borne viruses, and even those haven't been a major threat to most organizations since company wide AV, mail server malware filtering, and firewalling became common.

Will we see boot sector viruses make a comeback? My feeling is that it won't make a significant comeback in most organizations. Social networks, browser exploits, and social engineering seem likely to remain our highest threats, as widespread AV use and better network layer protections are making user interaction a more common requirement for the spread of malware. I also expect to see more viruses spread by removable devices and via wireless, both 802.11 and Bluetooth.

ClamXav OS X antivirus - free protection for the proactive

Most Mac users don't worry about viruses - in fact, a lot of the time you'll hear statements like "Macs don't get viruses.". As the popularity of OS X grows, and as more and more people buy Macs, they are becoming more attractive targets, and they're working side by side with PCs. That means files are exchanged, email is received, and a whole host of entry vectors open up. Macs also see use as file servers, mail servers, and in other capacities where they might not be at risk, but the clients connecting to them may be.

Those risks mean that antivirus software for the Mac is getting more attention now than it was a year ago.

Last year saw OS X viruses starting to get attention - viruses such as OSX.Leap.A brought attention to the fact that Macs weren't invulnerable bastions of security. While we still haven't seen a major OS X worm, antivirus for the Mac is looking more attractive.

If you'd like to cover your bases, but don't want to invest in a commercial product, ClamXav may be a great option for you. It is based on the ClamAV open source antivirus package that most Linux users are used to, and it has a GUI that makes it more attractive to most OS X users.

A small dose of preparedness can help, and I'll be using AV on my Mac. Is that a belt and suspenders approach to security? Not for much longer, I believe.