Windows 10: New malware persistence method leveraging Windows 10 UWP apps

Brink · Sep 11, 2018

A security researcher from Norway has discovered a new trick that can allow malware to persist on infected systems after reboots.

In infosec circles, the term for this is "persistence" and refers to a malware strain's ability to start right back up after a system reboot.

There are various ways in which malware authors obtain boot persistence, such as by modifying boot sectors, hijacking the Windows COM system, or by hijacking DLLs and shortcut files.

But, by far, the most popular method remains using the Windows Registry to add registry keys that call the malware's process on boot-up.

Oddvar Moe, a Norwegian blogger and Windows security specialist, has recently discovered a new and somewhat clever way of abusing the Windows Registry to trick Windows into running a malware's process after a boot-up.

Moe's new method only works on Windows 10, and only with apps developed for the Universal Windows Platform, a new Windows runtime system that Microsoft launched back in 2015.

In an interview with ZDNet, Moe said the technique should work with any UWP apps, but it is only useful when used with UWP apps that Windows 10 runs automatically after boot-up --such as Cortana and the People app.

"If an attacker targets other apps, the user needs to run that app mnually for it to run the planted binary," Moe told ZDNet regarding using the technique with non-startup UWP apps...
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Read more:

Researcher finds new malware persistence method leveraging Microsoft UWP apps | ZDNet

Persistence using Universal Windows Platform apps (APPX) s Blog

:)

FordGT90Concept · Sep 11, 2018

Microsoft Adds Ability to Block Win32 Apps from Install on Windows 10

Yes, UWP is an interpreter, an app running in UWP can't function without the interpreter. Only the UWP core has access to the actual hardware, the app does not.

By not having direct access to the hardware, they perform slower. UWP has to translate everything and make sure it passes safety and security checks.

If UWP has issues, all of the apps running on top of it also will. I've seen that in early release of Windows 10 where all UWP based, Windows-included apps broke (Edge, Calculator, Mail, etc.). Granted, it was only broke in one user account.

Brink · Sep 11, 2018

New Year, New Dev: Developing your idea into a UWP app

In the last post, we introduced you to a video series from Bob Tabor that teaches the fundamentals of C#. In this post, you’ll learn how to put those new (or re-sharpened) C# skills to use as we explore UWP (Universal Windows Platform) development in the Windows 10 Development for Absolute Beginners course from Bob Tabor. With little or no prior experience with XAML (pronounced “Zammal”), you’ll learn how to use XAML and C# to create amazing Windows 10 UWP applications, get those apps ready for publishing and see them run on UWP devices ranging from Xbox One and PC, to mobile and even Raspberry Pi.

Even if you’re an experienced UWP developer, just like in the last post, you may find that there are areas you’d like to brush up on. You can jump to any of the course’s 80 videos and also explore the companion sample code on GitHub.

Exploring the Course

The Ultimate Beginner Series course has two conceptual parts. In the first half, Bob Tabor explains the concepts, patterns and features of a UWP application. In the second half, you will build out four fleshed-out demo applications. From “File > New” to submitting your app to the Windows Store, these samples will get you ready to build and publish your first (or next) app!

First Half

Let’s take a high-level look at just some of the topics you’ll see in the front half of the course (to see the full list visit the course site).

Videos 1 – 7: Introduction to both XAML and what UWP (Universal Windows Application) is

Videos 8 – 18: Learn how to use different XAML Layouts

Videos 19 – 24: App Navigation

Videos 28 – 36: XAML Styling

Videos 37 – 39: VisualStateManager and AdaptiveTriggers

Videos 40 – 42: DataBinding, ObservableCollections and DataTemplates

There’s a lot there and there is even more to see, including lesson cheat-sheets, challenges and other useful material for learning and future reference.

Second Half

Now, let’s take a look at the four big samples that you’ll build as you move into the second part of the course. These videos will bring you through all the aspects of building, testing and publishing a UWP app.

SoundBoard (videos 49 – 56)

Page Layout, creating models and data binding

Playing media with MediaElement

Implementing drag and drop

Working with app assets (iconography) and submitting to the Windows Store

Weather (videos 57 – 62)

Working with a weather API

Using GPS and location APIs

Testing location in a Windows 10 Mobile emulator

Updating live tiles

Album Cover Match Game (videos 63–70)

Access and use the device’s folder and file system

Layout, databinding and game setup/logic

Handling user input and persisting progress

Monetization with ads and In App Purchase

Hero Explorer (videos 71–79)

Accessing a Web API

Databinding the object graph from the Web API results

Displaying that data in an adaptive layout

Make it through everything? Congrats, you are now ready to begin (or continue) your journey into the world of Windows 10 UWP development. This is not the end of great resources, there are many more available to you as you continue on your journey as a UWP developer (see resources section below). We look forward to seeing the wonderful UWP creations you bring to the Windows Store in 2017!

Resources

Official Microsoft GitHub UWP examples (currently 237 topic-specific demos)

UWP documentation

UWP app design documentation

Download Visual Studio to get started.

The Windows team would love to hear your feedback. Please keep the feedback coming using our Windows Developer UserVoice site. If you have a direct bug, please use the Windows Feedback tool built directly into Windows 10.
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Source: https://blogs.windows.com/buildingap...-idea-uwp-app/

lemonadesoda · Sep 11, 2018

Windows 10 malware

This morning, came to my PC, to see that (sneakily in last Win 8.1 updates) there was some "Get Windows 10" malware app, updating and rebooting and reconfiguring my PC through multiple reboots. It was at a critical time of my working morning and I couldnt get to my PC.

HATE @ MS backdoors

Windows 10: New malware persistence method leveraging Windows 10 UWP apps

New malware persistence method leveraging Windows 10 UWP apps

New malware persistence method leveraging Windows 10 UWP apps

New malware persistence method leveraging Windows 10 UWP apps

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