Dr.Web Anti-virus is the first one to counteract BackDoor.MaosBoot rootkit

January 28, 2008

Doctor Web, Ltd. announces a release of updated Dr.Web anti-virus modules for Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista. The updated modules include Dr.Web anti-virus scanner and Dr.Web Shield^TM anti-rootkit driver.

Updated Dr.Web Shield^TM allows Dr.Web anti-virus to cure the whole new family of rootkits currently represented by BackDoor.MaosBoot that was discovered at the end of 2007 and attracted a lot of attention in January 2008. The rootkit places the content of the malicious kernel driver to the last sectors of a hard drive so it doesn’t exist as a file. The malicious programme modifies MBR and hides its presence in a system. By now no anti-virus programme has been able to cure an infected computer of this stealth rootkit. However, the updated Dr.Web Shield makes Dr.Web anti-virus the first one capable of counteracting the malware.

Due to the upcoming release of Dr.Web Enterprise Suite 4.44 scheduled for January 29 the R&D Department of Doctor Web, Ltd. has released another updated module for Windows desktops - SpIDer Guard^® on-acces scanner. The updated version of SpIDer Guard will be included in Dr.Web Enterprise Suite 4.44.

Issues that arose in routines of SpIDer Guard included in Dr.Web Enterprise Suite have been fixed. Besides, SpIDer Guard crash during operations with files in certain modes and compatibility issue for iPod and some other devices have been fixed. Some minor changes have been done to the GUI of the resident protection module and sending notifications via e-mail has been corrected.

The fixed modules are available for automatic downloading to all users of Dr.Web for Windows 4.44. We strongly advise all users of 4.33 version of the programme to download 4.44 distributions from Doctor Web, Ltd. web-site and upgrade. All licenced users of Dr.Web anti-virus can upgrade to the new version free of charge.