 |
 64bit Viruses: First Encounters
June 3, 2004
Last week Symantec reported that it believes it has discovered the first known threat to 64-bit Windows systems. The malicious piece of code was dubbed W64.Rugrat.3344.
Company representatives were quick to point out that the threat was merely a so-called proof-of-concept virus, in other words, a worm developed by someone to demonstrate vulnerabilities that exist in a particular type of system, 64bit Windows. They also noted that it's not a virus already spreading in the wild. However, Oliver Friedrichs, Symantec's Security Response Team senior manager, said that however W64.Rugrat.3344 is capable of attacking 64-bit Microsoft Windows systems, it will not run on 32-bit Windows systems platforms and therefore is not considered to be a serious threat now.
"We always see early adopters trying to find a way to attack new technology right away, as we did with 32-bit, so it's not surprising to see this," Friedrichs said. "But we do expect to see more of these, as 64-bit technology becomes more prominent."
The 64-bit market is expected to grow rapidly. By the end of next year, most Intel chips, will be 64-bit capable, and virtually all of rival Advanced Micro Devices' processors will be 64-bit chips, too. The most significant advantage of 64-bit systems that is especially important for high-end systems is the ability to gracefully accommodate more physical memory than the 4GB limit in 32-bit systems.
Symantec said it was not expecting widespread copycats of W64.Rugrat.3344, since the affected assembly code requires fairly advanced technical knowledge. Additionally, Symantec noted that malicious code was created in IA64 (Intel Architecture) assembly code and infects IA64 executable files only.
Symantec is currently updating its Norton AntiVirus product line to help protect against W64.Rugrat.3344 and expects to have versions of the software armed to defeat the virus ready soon. The company rated this 64-bit virus at Level 1, or the least dangerous sort of threat ranked on its five-tiered ratings system, but warned users to update their virus protection systems as quickly as possible to avoid infection.
|
|
