First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all the readers across the globe,
A VERY HAPPY WORLD BOOK DAY!!!
As I think of the earlier times, I realize that the world of books is so different today. As I always say that we live in a digital era, our books have become digital too!
Today, for almost every book that reaches the stands, there is an e-book available. To many of the avid readers opinion, electronic books (e-books) lack of consensus in regards to advantages of e-books over regular paper books. However, as they help overcome space limitations faced by many, e-books appear to be an efficient means of storage. Infinite books can be simply stored in just one Laptop / computer / Tablet. Moreover, e-books facilitate readers with an up-to-date content and easy access. There are many online libraries that avail e-books at a minimal membership fee using electronic licenses. Many books are available for free access as well. The most preferred format used by the readers for these e-books is the PDF format. And hence, cyber criminals have not spared this as well with their malicious intentions.
Adobe Acrobat is the free global standard that is used reliably for viewing, printing, and commenting on PDF documents. Many features of PDF can be used in malicious ways without exploiting vulnerability. In case of PDF, whether a file is malicious or not, it does not depend on the file extension but on the vulnerabilities in the software that are parsing it. For instance, if the PDF reader which that you are using contains a buffer overflow vulnerability, in that case the hacker can create a special PDF file to exploit that vulnerability. A virus can be embedded inside a PDF document.
The capability to embed documents or applications inside a PDF document has been taking place since Adobe Acrobat 4, and Adobe realized long back about this. Hence, as a precaution, a quite severe error message is shown before any embedded document or application that is opened. Many of us feel that the risk of being infected by a virus inside a PDF document is comparatively small. However, it is indeed possible to embed malicious applications inside a PDF document. Also, many PDF viruses in the wild, spread via e-mail as attachments or with the help of a compromised website in order to launch a cyber-attack.
List of the PDF virus threats include Troj/PDFEx-DF, which is a malware PDF file that takes advantage of vulnerability of Adobe Reader. An Adobe Reader is used to open a PDF file that is specially created to launch a non-PDF file attachment that includes external applications. Moreover, a compromised website of fake anti-virus programs is used to infect visitors of the website by using malicious JavaScript. Here, the applet and JavaScript checks if a PDF reader plug-in exists in the browser that allows its malicious PDF file to load. In addition to Adobe Reader, FoxIt Reader and Nuance PDF Reader are also vulnerable to PDF viruses. Whenever a program has vulnerability and its exploited code is released, it can surely be used to attack end-users of the PDF reader.
To ensure that all the e-book readers enjoy their reading experience to the fullest, eScan suggest few tips as below:
- Always be weary of attachments to email messages.
- If you need a PDF reader, always ensure that you have the current version of the PDF reader program installed. The latest version of the PDF reader with security and bug fixes will secure you from PDF viruses or any kind of such cyber-attacks.
- Always ensure to install the important updates for Windows as well as all other software that are in your system.
- Disable any start-up entry of PDF reader programs.
- In case you do not need a PDF program to read or view a PDF file, it is always better to remove it from your computer.
- It is advisable to disable the PDF plug-in for your web browser.
- Make sure that you download PDF files only from trusted sources.
- Never open PDF file attachments if you are not expecting one.
- Ensure that your antivirus program facilitates web content and e-mails scanning for viruses.
- Configure your PDF reader to not launch non-PDF file attachments with external applications.
- Also, disable the Acrobat JavaScript in Adobe Reader’s preferences in order to be secured against any future vulnerability that may use this feature to execute any kind of malicious code.
Have A Happy and Safe Reading…!
