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Popular download management program has hidden DDoS component, researchers say |
August 22, 2013
Recent versions of Orbit Downloader, a popular Windows program for downloading embedded media content and other types of files from websites, turns computers into bots and uses them to launch distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, according to security researchers.Starting with version 4.1.1.14 released in December, the Orbit Downloader program silently downloads and uses a DLL (Dynamic Link Library) component that has DDoS functionality, malware researchers from antivirus vendor ESET said Wednesday in a blog post.The rogue component is downloaded from a location on the program's official website, orbitdownloader.com, the ESET researchers said. An encrypted configuration file containing a list of websites and IP (Internet Protocol) addresses to serve as targets for attacks is downloaded from the same site, they said.Orbit Downloader has been developed since at least 2006 and judging by download statistics from software distribution sites like CNET's Download.com and Softpedia.com it is, or used to be, a popular program.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2047240/popular-download-management-program-has-hidden-ddos-component-researchers-say.html#tk.rss_all
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