Microsoft Safety Scanner detects exploits du jour

We recently updated the Microsoft Safety Scanner - a just-in-time, free cleanup tool. The new version adds support for 64-bit Windows systems and also allows for the download of the tool to run in non-networked systems such as those behind an air-gap network, those within an ISPs walled garden, and those where the infection has impaired internet connectivity. You can download the Microsoft Safety Scanner (MSS) at www.microsoft.com/security/scanner.

The first results were very positive with this tool and we are actively reviewing the telemetry of our customers who use it to better understand aspects of the impact of threats from specific malware families. In addition, we invite our customers to install security updates provided by Microsoft operating systems and applications, as well as other third-party applications and all the security updates that can be provided by Internet service providers. Telemetry collected by the first release of Microsoft security scanner echoes this constant messaging.

During the first seven days of the issuance MSS, there were close to 420,000 downloads, or 60,000 downloads a day, of the product. And 'clean computers infected 20,097 in total, for users who suspect their computers were infected and downloaded MSS to scan their machines. Congratulations to these users for security awareness.

Among the findings, 7 of the top 10 threats are files that contain exploits for the vulnerabilities of Java as CVE-2008-5353, CVE-2010-0094, CVE-2010-0840 and CVE-2009-3867. (For more information about these exploits, see the blog post "Have you checked the Java?" From our colleague Holly Stewart.)

Below is a detailed table observations Microsoft security scanner in the first seven days of its release:

Threat	Threat Count	Machine Count	Note
CVE-2008-5353	7,739	2,272	Java Exploit
CVE-2010-0840	5,387	2,785	Java Exploit
CVE-2010-0094	4,744	1,579	Java Exploit
OpenConnection	3,929	2,396	Java Exploit
OpenCandy	3,408	3,238	Adware
CVE-2009-3867	2,759	1,445	Java Exploit
Wimad	1,658	637	Malicious Win Media File
Keygen	1,287	1,234	Key Generator Hacking Tool
Mesdeh	1,156	714	Java Exploit
OpenStream	1,125	759	Java Exploit