Symantec’s pcAnywhere software could very well turn into “virusAnywhere” due to a potential security breach made by Anonymous.
Symantec, the anti-virus software company, warned users of pcAnywhere, a tool that allows for remote access to your computer, to disable the software. Symantec revealed in a white paper that Anonymous stole pcAnywhere’s source code in 2006 and could use that information to create vulnerabilities:
Upon investigation of the claims made by Anonymous regarding source code disclosure, Symantec believes that the disclosure was the result of a theft of source code that occurred in 2006.
The company is working on a set of updates and patches to fix the vulnerability issue even though Anonymous — as far as we know — hasn’t capitalized on it yet. The source code could let malicious users build exploits and attacks targeted at pcAnywhere users to reveal session information, PC Mag reported.
This is not the first time a Symantec product has been compromised, PC Mag pointed out:
In early January, Symantec confirmed that source code used in its older enterprise antivirus products was stolen. Hacker group the “Lords of Dharmaraja” of India had threatened to publish the code online. Although the code dated back to 1999, security expert Alex Horan of CORE Security Technologies said there was still potential for harm.
For users that insist on accessing pcAnywhere, Symantec recommends having the latest version of the software installed to prevent as much damage as possible.
Anonymous is proving to be an international force, not only attacking sites for fun but acting like a kind of digital watch dog. When Megaupload was shut down amid the SOPA and PIPA controversies, alleged members of Anonymous went after SOPA supporters and even the State Department website. Members of Anonymous had previously gone after banks and big business during the financial crisis and even targeted child porn sites. It’s unclear how and why Anonymous would use Symantec’s pcAnywhere source code but hopefully it would be for good and not ill.
What do you think of Anonymous going after Symantec’s source code? Are you a pcAnywhere user? What will you do? Sound off in the comments.
Want to learn more about Anonymous? Check out the video below.
Image courtesy of Flickr, anonymous, hacker, hacking, security, virus
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