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Trend Micro vs Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware

Although yesterday I mentioned how convenient Trend Micro’s Security for SMB was, I did not examine the effectiveness of Trend Micro’s protection.

I’ve had the luxury of dealing with many corporate computers infected with Malware, Spyware, Grayware, Adware and every other type of ‘ware. Trend Micro does well with most traditional viruses, but falls terribly short on it’s protection against adware and trojans.

By far the best Malware protection I’ve seen is from Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware. I scanned a real computer with Trend Micro’s Virus and Spyware removal engine first, then with Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware. Trend Micro found nothing. Below are the results of what was found by Anti-Malware – 192 files and 88 registry keys. All of which were removed successfully.

Trojan.Clicker
Trojan.Agent
Fake.Dropped.Malware
Adware.Starware
Adware.EGDAccess
Trojan.FakeAlert
Trojan.FakeAlert.H
Adware.Seekmo
Rogue.XPantivirus
Hijack.TaskManager
Malware.Trace
Rogue.Installer
Trojan.DNSChanger
Adware.Zango

Registry Keys Infected: 88
Registry Values Infected: 4
Registry Data Items Infected: 1
Folders Infected: 25
Files Infected: 192

Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware: http://www.malwarebytes.org/
Trend Micro for SMB: http://us.trendmicro.com/us/products/enterprise/officescan-client-server-edition/index.html

Hacking the Trend Micro Security Dashboard for SMB: Reset the Password

Trend Micro’s Client Server Security for SMB is a well designed security solution for small businesses. One of its greatest features is the ability to be deployed, updated, and controlled via the local network. With the push of a button you can scan all networked computers, increase security, send messages or print reports.

I’ve recently taken over the role of administrator for a company and unfortunately the Trend Micro passwords were lost.

Fear not, there is a simple method to resetting the password (too easy?)

  1. Navigate to: \Program Files\Trend Micro\security server(officescan)\private
  2. Open ofcserver.ini in Notepad
  3. Press CTRL-F to search for: master_pwd
  4. Once found, the string should look similar to: master_pwd=!CRYPT!xxxxx
  5. xxxxx is representative of a long string of hex characters making up an encrypted password
  6. In place of !CRYPT!xxxxx put “70″ so it will look like: master_pwd=70
  7. 70 is the hexadecimal value for “1″
  8. Save the file
  9. Press Start -> Run -> Type: services.msc and press enter
  10. Find “Trend Micro Security Server Master Service” and restart the service
  11. Login to the Trend Micro Security Dashboard with the password as “1″ without the quotations
  12. The default URL for the dashboard is: https://IPADDRESS:4343/officescan/default_SMB.htm

Liking Windows is bad, you should like Linux more

I got a couple of nasty emails yesterday calling me a Microsoft fanboy, and that I should switch to Linux.

My comments were aimed at WordPress’ extremely slow and inefficient templating system. I was also making a JAB at Microsoft. A few people failed to realize I was making light of the fact that IIS is considered inferior.

I work with both Windows and Linux. Linux works well, but unfortunately in a business environment, most boxes are windows. My website focuses on IIS and Windows because that IS the most frustrating part of my day.

I AM a big fan of Linux, and I do use it where it is necessary. But when someone asks why I don’t run certain servers on Linux, I say “exchange doesn’t run on linux.”  Not to mention all the industry specific software I NEED to run.

I’ve tried Open-Xchange (http://www.open-xchange.com/) and unfortunately it hasn’t matured to the level where it can replace Exchange Server. It too, is not free. It’s a bit cheaper than Exchange Server, but that won’t convince a company to switch from Exchange Server.

Part of management decisions to implement a certain infrastructure over another is: cost, ease of use, and disaster recovery.

When dealing with cost, Linux is usually cheaper in the long run, but not always. Even though you can download and install most distros of Linux for free, knowing how to use them, or getting someone that knows how to use them costs money. Linux admins (in my area) make more than Windows admins.

Ease of use is directly related to the skill of the IT department and workforce in your company. I can bet Windows will be “easier to use” than Linux. Sorry, but for the desktop, it’s just not there.

For disaster recovery, it’s a mixed bag. You’ll obviously find whatever you’re using to be easiest. So what about a different disaster: You’re the only IT person, and you die in a car accident. Your servers are running Slackware, and no one knows how to use them. You go to the local IT companies and most only know Windows, or have only dabbled in a bit of Ubuntu, Redhat, Debian. ?

I started off in computers running Slackware. I’m 25. I couldn’t afford Windows 3.1 back then. I still use Slackware on an old machine to have fun. But it’s 90% Windows and 10% Redhat that gets my paycheck signed. Heck, let’s all use FreeBSD.

1000000′s of Spam Comments

A few weeks ago someone had asked to purchase iishacks.com from me. When I declined, he became quite irate. Granted the price was good, but money really doesn’t do it for me. After all, Sysadmins aren’t in it for the money…

Immediately after I declined, I started getting hundreds of spam messages, then thousands, then millions. In the last few weeks I’ve gone from a couple spam messages to hundreds of thousands per day.

So the plan is to track where the messages are coming from, and then get him back. Hope he’s listening.

On a side note, I’m quite impressed WordPress and MySQL were able to handle the load. I mean, it is a Windows Server!