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Trend Micro Protects Against
First Palm-OS Trojan: "Palm_Liberty.A"
Trend Micro offers free
detection for proof-of-concept Trojan
Cupertino, CA - August 28,
2000 - Trend Micro Inc. (Nasdaq:TMIC), announces the
immediate availability of protection for the recently
discovered Palm_Liberty.A Trojan. Palm_Liberty.A is a
"proof of concept" trojan that targets the Palm
Operating System. Although this trojan has been found on a
website and was also reported from several Internet Relay
Chat (IRC) channels, Trend Micro has received no reports of
infection at this time. Trend Micro considers this trojan to
be a very low risk. In order to be affected, the handheld
device users must download and install the trojan file on
their PDA. It is not clear at this time if the
Palm_Liberty.A trojan is targeting specific versions of the
Palm OS. Because of this Trend Micro advises all Palm Pilot
and Handspring users to exercise extreme caution when
downloading programs over the Internet.
Since the majority of Palm OS
users download programs to their desktop and then sync to
their palm, they have virus protection available to them at
either their corporation's or ISP's Internet gateway and/or
at the desktop level when using Trend Micro products. Other
Palm Pilot and Handspring users who may directly link to the
Web via a wireless or wired modem (such as users of the Palm
7, Minstrel wireless modem, and Palm wired modems) should
take extra precautions when downloading applications from
the Internet to ensure that they remain free from malicious
malware.
Trojan Behavior
The Palm_Liberty.A Trojan is among the first Palm-based
malware and is distributed via IRC. It comes disguised as a
'crack' file that can convert a shareware program called
LIBERTY into a registered version. Upon execution, this
malware deletes all executable applications in the handheld
device. On a Palm OS- based device, the Trojan appears as a
Liberty icon and is named, "Crack1.1".
How to Recover your Palm
Users may restore infected Palm OS-based devices using
the HotSync manager by setting the System conduit to
"Desktop overwrites Handheld".
Solutions available from
Trend Micro
Trend Micro has created updated virus pattern file No.
764 to detect and clean this trojan and has released it via
Trend Micro's website at http://www.trend.com/pc-cillin/pattern.asp.
Trend Micro customers can use the following products to
protect themselves against this new Palm OS threat.
Corporate customers:
- Update InterScan®
VirusWall®, Trend Micro's Internet gateway antivirus
solution to detect and delete the trojan at the
Internet gateway before it has a chance to be
downloaded to the desktop and hot-synched with the
Palm or Handspring device.
- Update OfficeScan™
Corporate Edition, Trend Micro's centrally controlled
desktop protection to detect and delete the trojan at
the corporate desktop.
Home and mobile users:
- Update PC-cillin®,
Trend Micro's consumer desktop virus protection to
detect and delete the trojan.
- Use HouseCall™, Trend
Micro's free online virus scanner at to detect and
delete this Trojan.
The pattern file has already
been placed on the ActiveUpdate server, allowing all Trend
Micro products to download it immediately. Virus pattern
files will continue to be updated throughout the virus alert
period as new information is known or new variants are
detected.
Virus detection and
reporting tools:
- Organizations or
individuals who do not currently use Trend Micro
products may download a free evaluation copy of
InterScan VirusWall or PC-cillin with the latest virus
pattern file to clean their gateway servers and
desktops.
- Desktop users can scan
their computers for free for suspected viruses with
Trend Micro's HouseCall, a free online scanning service,
found at http://housecall.antivirus.com.
- To monitor activity and
travel patterns of viruses worldwide, in real-time,
visit Trend Micro's World Virus Tracking Center (WVTC)
at http://wtc.trendmicro.com.
- To submit suspected virus
files to Trend Micro for analysis, please email the
Virus Team at virus_doctor@trendmicro.com.
Tracking occurrences or new variants will allow Trend
Micro to better serve the IT community.
For more information on the
Palm_Liberty.A trojan and how it can be stopped, please
consult Trend Micro's Virus Information Center at http://www.trend.com/pc-cillin/vinfo/.
About Trend Micro:
Trend Micro provides centrally controlled server-based
virus protection and content-filtering products and
services. By protecting information that flows through
Internet gateways, email servers, and file servers, Trend
Micro allows companies and managed service providers
worldwide to stop viruses and other malicious code from a
central point before they ever reach the desktop.
Trend Micro's corporate
headquarters is located in Tokyo, Japan, with business units
in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Trend Micro's North American headquarters is located in
Cupertino, CA. Trend Micro's products are sold directly and
through a network of corporate, value-added resellers and
managed service providers. Evaluation copies of all of Trend
Micro's products may be downloaded from its awarding winning
Website, http://www.antivirus.com.
InterScan, VirusWall, and PC-cillin
are registered trademarks in the United States and
trademarks in other countries. HouseCall is a trademark in
the United States. Other products and company names may be
registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective
companies.
For
additional information
North America
Susan Orbuch
Tel: +1 408-863-6362
susan_orbuch@trendmicro.com
David Perry
Pager: 1-800-469-4409
david_perry@trendmicro.com
Europe/ UK
Donna Rennemo
Tel: +44 1628 421 508
donna_rennemo@trendmicro.com
Asia Pacific/
Taiwan
John DeRiso
Tel: +886 2 2378 9666 ext.378
john_deriso@trend.com.tw
Asia Pacific/
Japan
Yayoi Sakurai
Tel: +81 3 5334 3618 ext. 8312
yayoi_sakurai@trendmicro.co.jp
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