#Norton antivirus y seguridad software#
#Norton antivirus y seguridad code#

#Norton antivirus y seguridad code#

вЂњIf you have to use a riskier language, that would mean youвЂ™re going to have to spend more time on testing and code review to get it right,вЂќ he says. Those restrictions and complications shouldn't let security firms off the hook, Wysopal says.

#Norton antivirus y seguridad software#

Security software also performs complex parsing of files and other operations, which can make writing it more difficult and more prone to error. Companies use them because the security software has to interact with operating systems that are written in the same languages. Much of it, Wysopal notes, is written in C and C++-programming languages that are more prone to common vulnerabilities like buffer overflows and integer overflows. вЂњSecurity software companies arenвЂ™t getting specially trained developers that know about good coding better at preventing buffer overflows than your average engineer.вЂќДЄnother issue is the language in which security software is written. вЂњThereвЂ™s this assumption that if you work at a security software company, you must know a lot about security, and itвЂ™s just not true,вЂќ he says. Wysopal, whose company performs static analysis of software code to uncover vulnerabilities, attributes the lapses to security firms hiring developers that have no special training in writing secure code. That still doesnвЂ™t explain why the security firms who put out the flawed products Ormandy exposed havenвЂ™t given their products more scrutiny themselves. 'So, it's entirely possible to be a competent malware analyst without understanding secure development.'

'I think the set of skills needed to understand vulnerabilities is entirely different than the skills and training necessary to analyze malware-even though they're both considered security disciplines,' he told WIRED. Most security professionals employed by companies reverse-engineer malware, not dig through code for vulnerabilities. Ormandy says it's more likely a matter of skill sets. Essentially, a core component Symantec uses to detect malware could be used by intruders to aid their assault. So the vulnerability would let attackers subvert the unpacker to take control of a victimвЂ™s machine. The flaw exists in an unpacker Symantec uses to examine compressed executable files it thinks might be malicious. the victim does not need to open the file or interact with it in anyway,вЂќ Ormandy wrote in a blog post Tuesday, further noting that such an attack could 'easily compromise an entire enterprise fleet.' Just by вЂњemailing a file to a victim or sending them a link to an exploit.

One particularly devastating flaw could be exploited with a worm. But others are far more serious, and would allow an attacker to gain remote-code execution on a machine, a hackerвЂ™s dream. Some of SymantecвЂ™s flaws are basic, and should have been caught by the company during code development and review. The worst thing about SymantecвЂ™s woes? TheyвЂ™re just the latest in a long string of serious vulnerabilities uncovered in security software. ThatвЂ™s 17 Symantec enterprise products in all, and eight Norton consumer and small-business products. This week, Google security researcher Tavis Ormandy announced that heвЂ™d found numerous critical vulnerabilities in SymantecвЂ™s entire suite of anti-virus products.