Page 4 - index
P. 4
How Ballmer Missed a variety of different program names, at least
one of which may possibly be able to execute,
theTidal Shifts in which would then be able to detect and neutral-
ize the malware. Chameleon is a 1.37 MB file,
Tech. downloaded in the common ZIP (compressed)
format, which can be uncompressed (un-
ZIPPED) using the native Windows Explorer
(file manager) built into Windows. The instruc-
By: David Pogue, NYTimes.com, August 24, 2013 tions provided by MalwareBytes on the installa-
tion and use of Chameleon are simple; first,
“Unzip the contents to a folder in a convenient
“By now, you’ve probably heard: Steven A. location.” I created a Chameleon folder on my
Ballmer will soon be step¬ping down as chief ex- C: drive which I used to hold the unzipped
ecutive of Microsoft. Chameleon files. The second instruction refer-
“It’s supposedly a voluntary retirement, but that ences the built-in Chameleon Help File (CHM,
holds about as much credibility as a public offi- or standard Windows help file format), “Follow
cial’s leaving a job “to spend more time with fami- the instructions in the included Chameleon
ly.” Microsoft has been flailing, and many promi- CHM Help File or, if the help file will not open,
nent voices have been calling for Mr. Ballmer to simply try to run the files by double-clicking on
step aside. them one by one until one of them remains
“Many of the factors in his departure — stock open, then follow the onscreen instructions.”
price, internal politics, shareholder pressure, pub- The CHM help file, which is opened by simply
lic relations — aren’t my area of expertise. I’m a clicking or double-clicking on it to open, dis-
tech critic, a reviewer of products. But even from plays very simple instructions on how to trick
my particular angle of examination, Mr. Ballmer’s the malware on the infected computer into al-
time as the head of Microsoft has been baffling. lowing the full MalwareBytes anti-malware utili-
“He completely missed the importance of the ty to install, load, and execute. The CHM Help
touch-screen phone. (“There is no chance that the File says, “Just click on the first button below
iPhone is going to get any significant market and see if it runs. You’ll know it’s working if a
share,” he said in 2007.) He missed the im- black DOS window appears, slays malicious
portance of the tablet, too. Yes, Microsoft now programs, and then starts Malwarebytes Anti-
sells attractive phones and tablets, but they came Malware. If the first button doesn’t work, try the
years too late. They have minuscule market share next one. If that one doesn’t work, just keep
and little influence. trying until you find one that does! Then use
“It doesn’t take a psychologist to understand why Malwarebytes Anti-Malware as you normally
Microsoft missed these tidal shifts: It’s always would to run a Quick Scan and remove the
been a PC company. It helped to cre¬ate the PC malware. Click the buttons, one at a time, to
revolution, its bread and butter was the PC — and attempt to run Chameleon.” Twelve radio but-
so of course the company kept insisting that the tons are displayed, aptly named Chameleon #1
PC was the future. to Chameleon #12, each of which loads a dif-
It would have taken an exceptional thinker, an out- ferent iteration of Chameleon, one of which is
of-the-box visionary, to admit that the company’s likely to defeat the self-defense capabilities of
foundation was crumbling. Mr. Ballmer wasn’t that the malware, and allowing the MalwareBytes
guy. anti-malware to run and clean the infected
Source: computer.
Since most traditional anti-virus software, and
some anti-malware software, only looks at pro-
gram files and components on the hard drive,
malware and virus authors found a way to
(Continued from page 1) avoid detection by writing malware to the Win-
be installed or run, it cannot remove the mal- dows registry. The registry is a massive data-
ware. base of information and instructions, that is not
MalwareBytes has created a utility, Chamele- normally scanned by most traditional security
on <:// http www.malwarebytes.org/products/ software. Another way malware and viruses
chameleon>, that will often be able to load and hide from detection is to place their operating
run MalwareBytes on a computer infected with code in a part of the hard drive not normally
self-protecting malware by tricking the malware scanned by security software, such as in the
into thinking that an innocent, non-protective MBR or “Master Boot Record” of the hard
program is loading. Just like the small reptile drive. According to Wikipedia
the MalwareBytes anti-malware program under
(Continued on page 5)
4
