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The computer-security company McAfee has announced that it is rolling out a patch for the hole in its anti-malware service, SaaS for Total Protection, that scammers were using to send spam by way of McAfee customer computers.
The hole in security was discovered after users of the anti-malware service realized that their IP addresses had been blacklisted, and that e-mail providers had blocked their e-mail addresses.
The software issue is a two-part problem. First, one vulnerability could allow scammers to execute code on a computer running SaaS for Total Protection. This first part of the problem is similar to an issue McAfee patched this past summer.
The second aspect of the software problem gives scammers access to technology in the software that essentially lets them relay spam by bouncing it off computers running SaaS for Total Protection.
David Marcus, director of security research at McAfee Labs wrote the following on his McAfee blog:
Because this is a managed product, all affected customers will automatically receive the patch when it is released. We have no evidence of loss or compromise of any customer data in relation to either of these issues.
All affected McAfee customers should have the update shortly.
You can check our Ratings of security software (available to subscribers), for all the details on the nearly two dozen different protection programs we've tested.
Vulnerabilities Patched in McAfee SaaS for Total Protection [McAfee]
McAfee to plug 'spammer' hole this week [CNet]
—Maggie Shader
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