How antivirus companies get new virus samples

[CadCrazy]

how antivirus companies get a new virus in their labs as soon as it is out ???????

[anandk]

simplistically speaking, they r on the lookout for malware all the time. the first one to identify it and find its 'antidote' gets to name it. it (the virus) then gets shared.

wud love to know more on it, however.

[ranjan2001]

well the rumors have been that they breed it & then let it loose on the web & then soon provide the patch for it...............business keeps running fine.

Remember its a rumor Ihave no confirmation on it.

[anandk]

^ cant be ruled out :-z sometime bach i read somewhere that malware writters were hocking their wares to the highest bidder in the open mkt !

[phreak0ut]

I had a nice read in a ebook. Will try to get the excerpt from the net if possible. This guy is running a server just to catch malwares and since malwares attack a particular OS or application, it manages to catch his server as well. He checks the logs, the traffic of the net once his system is infected, etc, etc. Then, he finds the file and debugs it. Though he gets it first, he doesn't reveal it to the AV companies as he wants to become famous in his hacker group by finding a fix by himself and the first one as well!

[The Unknown]

I think, these virus companies especially paid ones program viruses so that the virus will trouble the user and the user will be forced to buy their product. The viruses may be written by pro-virus programmer hired by them for a lumsome amount.

[techtronic]

I have always propagated that Antivirus companies and Virus writers have a hand in glove always

[cynosure]

^
^
Yes block this guy.

And coming to the point, the systems of the antivirus agencies would also be attacked by the virus. So why would they seach for virus outside when the traitor is in the same house???

[CadCrazy]

Originally Posted by cynosure

And coming to the point, the systems of the antivirus agencies would also be attacked by the virus. So why would they seach for virus outside when the traitor is in the same house???

This may not be the case always. Also they should get the virus ASAP ( not to wait for the virus to attack their server)

[iMav]

what i heard/read once was tht norton has a facility setup in russia which tries to find new loop holes and viruses then they try to patch em .... heard this not sure if ne1 can confirm its validity plz do so

[alsiladka]

It is an accepted RUMOUR, that the Anti Virus companies themselves release viruses.

Ankit Fadia had once supported this claim, saying that many of his friends and contacts who had previously worked in AntiVirus companies, have released that info to him.

This explains the fact that as soon as a Virus it OUT IN THE WILDS, within few hours the Anti Virus companies have their Virus Definitions updated. Common man, you think we fools?

Story is simple, I make a bomb and ask you, either pay me money for the shield of this bomb, or face the bomb!!

[CadCrazy]

Now who is Ankit Fadia.

So that means kaspersky is the largest creator of viruses

[praka123]

http://mm.gnu.org.in/pipermail/fsf-f...il/003966.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankit_Fadia

[Goten]

Originally Posted by jugnu_009

Now who is Ankit Fadia.

So that means kaspersky is the largest creator of viruses

No I create viruses.

LOL.

Ankit Fadia is a student of DPS RKPURAM. May be a potential hacker coz his all claims have no proof at all.

Peace~~~!

[alsiladka]

I dont believe his claims of hacking either. He just uses simple tool to fool the ignorants.

But we all know that for all the fools he has made, he does have contacts and name. So cant discard his revealation, plus it makes sense too.

[kalpik]

Hehe.. Its not the case that AV companies manufacture viruses! The get viruses from 2 main sources:

1. Honey pots: They set up unpatched and unprotected machines on the internet to "collect" viruses.
2. They collaborate with online virus scanning sites like http://virusscan.jotti.org and http://www.virustotal.com to collect samples that were missed by their antivirus product.

[praka123]

^ but the suspicion other users expressed remains...>the link with warez for new viruses.btw honeypots are used for security of base systems.

[khattam_]

Some viruses are made just for fun, because they can be done...
Some other malwares are made for increasing visits to a certain site so that the user may be forced to buy a product being sold there, it may be viagra, porn material, penis enlargers or simply some malware removers...
I myself have made some of the viruses of 1st type, but not of the second type....