Burglar.1150.A

SUMMARY

Burglar.1150 is an encrypted memory-resident virus which only infects .EXE files that do not contain a V or an S in the file name. Besides infecting files when they are accessed or executed, Burglar will look for files to infect whenever a file attribute change function is performed on a file (such as those done with ATTRIB), and whenever a get free disk space function (called during the DIR command, among others) is used. Due to the virus’s stealthing routines, the file size increase caused by virus infection is not visible while the virus is active in memory.

Threat Assessment

Wild

• Wild Level: Low
• Number of Infections: 0 - 49
• Number of Sites: 0 - 2
• Geographical Distribution: Low
• Threat Containment: Easy
• Removal: Easy

Damage

• Damage Level: Low
• Payload Trigger: The 14th minute of any hour of any day.

Distribution

• Distribution Level: Low
• Target of Infection: DOS, .EXE files

TECHNICAL DETAILS

An interesting item to note is that while the virus is infecting and when the system timer’s minute value matches 14, Burglar will display in the upper right hand corner of the screen the following white text:

Burglar/H.

Also, contained within the body of the virus in unencrypted format is the following text:

AT THE GRAVE OF GRANDMA

and in encrypted format, the text below is stored within the body of the virus:

CLHWTBF-WCTK
Burglar/H*.*

Recommendations

Symantec Security Response encourages all users and administrators to adhere to the following basic security "best practices":

• Turn off and remove unneeded services. By default, many operating systems install auxiliary services that are not critical, such as an FTP server, telnet, and a Web server. These services are avenues of attack. If they are removed, blended threats have less avenues of attack and you have fewer services to maintain through patch updates.
• If a blended threat exploits one or more network services, disable, or block access to, those services until a patch is applied.
• Always keep your patch levels up-to-date, especially on computers that host public services and are accessible through the firewall, such as HTTP, FTP, mail, and DNS services (for example, all Windows-based computers should have the current Service Pack installed.). Additionally, please apply any security updates that are mentioned in this writeup, in trusted Security Bulletins, or on vendor Web sites.
• Enforce a password policy. Complex passwords make it difficult to crack password files on compromised computers. This helps to prevent or limit damage when a computer is compromised.
• Configure your email server to block or remove email that contains file attachments that are commonly used to spread viruses, such as .vbs, .bat, .exe, .pif and .scr files.
• Isolate infected computers quickly to prevent further compromising your organization. Perform a forensic analysis and restore the computers using trusted media.
• Train employees not to open attachments unless they are expecting them. Also, do not execute software that is downloaded from the Internet unless it has been scanned for viruses. Simply visiting a compromised Web site can cause infection if certain browser vulnerabilities are not patched.