Hi, Here is a look at the wormy issue with a lighter touch.
----------------------------------------- 1. EDITOR'S NOTE INVASION OF THE BAD-TEMPERED 12-YEAR-OLDS If you have any doubt that the Internet is being taken over by ill- tempered 12-year-olds, check out this week's story by Gregg Keizer, describing the slanging going on in the source code of the latest Netsky, Bagle and MyDoom worms. Apparently there's some kind of hacker rumble going on, and the computer-using world is getting to overhear the antagonists' trash-talk: - "Hey,NetSky, f*** off you b****, don't ruine our bussiness, wanna start a war?" - "Skynet AntiVirus --Bagle -- you are a looser!!!" - "to netsky's creator(s): imho, skynet is a decentralized peer-to-peer neural network. they may be called skynets, but not your s***** app." Worm Authors Exchange Taunting Messages http://www.securitypipeline.com/news/18201817 Embarrassing, isn't it? Kids, if you're going to be an outlaw you really have an obligation to be ARTICULATE about the whole thing. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid are remembered because they were witty and stylish. You may think of yourself as a L33t hax0r d00d, and wear mirrorshades and leathers, but nobody's going to be impressed by you if your dialogue consists mainly of, "I know what you are, but what am I?" Also, if your computer skills are so awesome, how come you don't know how to use a spellchecker? WHY DO THEY DO IT, ANYWAY? Sometimes a question that seems dumb at first turns out to be not so dumb after all. I hang out on several online hobbyist forums, and on one of those forums, someone wrote: "I have been trying to figure the purpose of spam out for a long time now.... any insights as to why people like to send out evil messages and viruses? What do they get out of it?" I was tickled by the response given by Debra Doyle, a novelist with a doctorate in medieval literature: "Spam can probably be blamed on Mammon, but the only reason I can come up with for the existence of computer viruses is original sin." Another person pointed out that, with regard to spam at least, the cost of sending is so small that an infinitesimal response rate makes the operation profitable - that person said the number of responses needed to turn a profit is one in 40,000. I responded: "I'd say Debra Doyle said it best of all, but if you prefer your explanations more long-winded and secular, here goes: "Spammers do it for profit. As was said earlier, the cost of sending spam is so small that, even if only one person in 40,000 buys the product being advertised, then the sender will make a profit. I'm not so sure about that figure, I've seen others quoted, but they are all about the same range. "Moreover, the spammers and the people selling the products being advertised aren't necessarily the same people. Spammers are specialists. So the spammer himself doesn't have to successfully sell herbal V**gr* using spam, all he has to do is find some herbal V**gr* salesman and convince the salesman that spam works. "Make sense? "Next question: Why do people distribute viruses? "Answer: Maybe you're a small-town gal and have never had a lock on your door. I visited a friend about 12 years ago who lived in a small town, and there I saw one of the most amazing things I'd ever seen: we were driving around, running errands, and my friend realized he was low on cigarettes so he decided to stop in at the grocery store. It was a bitter cold day in February, the parking lot was pretty much empty, my friend drove right up to the front of the store, stopped the car without parking, we got out and he LEFT THE ENGINE RUNNING while the car was unattended and we went in and got cigarettes. "Of course, this being a small town, he knew the cashier, and we had to stop and have a nice chat. Not only did my friend know the cashier, their families knew each other, so there was a bit of catching up to do. And of course I had to be introduced, and the cashier needed to know how I knew my friend, and where I was from, and so forth. "So we left 20 minutes later and -- most amazing thing of all -- THE CAR WAS STILL THERE! WITH THE ENGINE RUNNING! And we just got in and drove off. "I've lived my whole life in big cities and suburbs of big cities, and you accept that a certain amount of vandalism and other property crime is a fact of life. Kids write graffitti. Every few years you'll go outside and find someone has knocked your mailbox over. One day while living in San Francisco I went out to my car and found that someone had thrown a rock through the window. They didn't steal anything, but the window was shattered. I know it was vandalism rather than an accident because the rock was still sitting on the front seat of my car. "You learn not to take that kind of thing personally, any more than you take the law of gravity personally. It just happens. Some people love to do damage for its own sake. It gives them a thrill. "Other people want revenge on someone. Maybe they crash their former employers' computers. Maybe they hate Microsoft and are seeking to hurt Microsoft by damaging Windows computers. "Recently, we're seeing the spammers and hackers in collusion. The hackers send out viruses which allow other people to turn infected computers into 'spam cannons,' sending out spam messages by the millions on command. "And some viruses will install 'keystroke loggers' on infected computers, which will capture every keystroke typed on that machine. The goal is to collect up all the logs, which will hopefully include credit card numbers and passwords." Mitch Wagner mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Editor Security Pipeline http://www.securitypipeline.com For more commentary and links by Mitch Wagner, see Wagner's Weblog http://WagBlog.InternetWeek.com ----------------------------------------- 2. THIS WEEK'S WORM, VIRUS AND SECURITY BULLETIN NEWS Defending Against Worm Wave Is A Tough Task http://www.securitypipeline.com/news/18201999 Don't open unexpected e-mail attachments, update Outlook security, be wary of .zip attachments, and keep on top of new threats. That's just some of the advice from security experts on how to thwart the worm wave. Worm Authors Exchange Taunting Messages http://www.securitypipeline.com/news/18201817 Were Worm Outbreaks Sparked by Dueling Hackers? http://www.securitypipeline.com/news/18201627 Wave of Bagle and Netsky Worm Variants Hit The Internet http://www.securitypipeline.com/news/18201274 -- Assured Computing, Inc. When you need to be sure. http://www.assuredcomp.com/ P.O. 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