Mocmex
Encyclopedia
Mocmex is a trojan
, which was found in a digital photo frame
in February 2008. It was the first serious computer virus
on a digital photo frame. The virus was traced back to a group in China
.
built-in firewall
. Mocmex downloads files from remote locations and hides randomly named files on infected computers. Therefore, the virus is difficult to remove. Furthermore, it spreads to other portable storage devices that were plugged into an infected computer. Industry experts describe the writers of the Trojan Horse as professionals and describe Mocmex as a "nuclear bomb of malware".
. The negative publicity followed by media reports of the Chinese virus is expected to have negative effects on Chinese manufacturers. Mocmex happened just a few months after quality problems with toys manufactured in China raised the attention of Western countries leading to a low quality image for Chinese products.
Trojan horse (computing)
A Trojan horse, or Trojan, is software that appears to perform a desirable function for the user prior to run or install, but steals information or harms the system. The term is derived from the Trojan Horse story in Greek mythology.-Malware:A destructive program that masquerades as a benign...
, which was found in a digital photo frame
Digital photo frame
A digital photo frame is a picture frame that displays digital photos without the need to print them or use a computer.- Features :...
in February 2008. It was the first serious computer virus
Computer virus
A computer virus is a computer program that can replicate itself and spread from one computer to another. The term "virus" is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, including but not limited to adware and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability...
on a digital photo frame. The virus was traced back to a group in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
.
Overview
Mocmex collects passwords for online games. The virus is able to recognize and block antivirus protection from more than a hundred security companies and the WindowsMicrosoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
built-in firewall
Firewall (computing)
A firewall is a device or set of devices designed to permit or deny network transmissions based upon a set of rules and is frequently used to protect networks from unauthorized access while permitting legitimate communications to pass....
. Mocmex downloads files from remote locations and hides randomly named files on infected computers. Therefore, the virus is difficult to remove. Furthermore, it spreads to other portable storage devices that were plugged into an infected computer. Industry experts describe the writers of the Trojan Horse as professionals and describe Mocmex as a "nuclear bomb of malware".
Protection
As Mocmex can be described as a serious virus, protection is not hard. First of all, it is important to update your antivirus software, as updated antivirus works unless the malware writers get ahead of the antivirus vendors (which is what happened with the new Mocmex). Another way is to check a digital photo frame for malware on a Macintosh or Linux machine before plugging it into a computer with Windows, or disable autorun on Windows.Effects
A large part of digital photo frames were manufactured in China, particularly in ShenzhenShenzhen
Shenzhen is a major city in the south of Southern China's Guangdong Province, situated immediately north of Hong Kong. The area became China's first—and one of the most successful—Special Economic Zones...
. The negative publicity followed by media reports of the Chinese virus is expected to have negative effects on Chinese manufacturers. Mocmex happened just a few months after quality problems with toys manufactured in China raised the attention of Western countries leading to a low quality image for Chinese products.