Tomas Martin @ 28-08-2008
Paul Raven @ 05-05-2008
Malicious software and obfuscatory legalese - two bad tastes that, I imagine, taste even worse together. [image by j l t]
Thankfully, as I’m not in the business of trying to turn a profit by building botnets, it’s not a flavour combo I’ve encountered myself, but there are reports that such things really do exist. Caught with the same economic problem as legitimate software houses - an infinite good, easily reproduced - malware crews are including EULAs with their program packages.
Of course, a malware author can’t fall back on the courts to enforce the terms of the agreement, and so the threatened actions are a little more, er, direct - basically, if you mess with the code they’ll rat you out to the antivirus companies. But, in the words of Mike Masnick at TechDirt:
“… we already know that almost no one reads normal software EULAs, so I somehow doubt that the online scammers using this software are bothering with the fine print either.”
I can’t say I’m feeling too sad about that.
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Paul Raven @ 04-01-2008
As if we don’t already have enough “regular” viruses to worry about, a research team from Indiana University suggests that a specially designed computer virus made to attack and propagate on unsecured WiFi routers could easily infect entire cities.
While the risk is apparently only theoretical at the moment, the potential for trouble is a function of the rapid uptake in wireless technology; there are enough open routers about nowadays that the theoretical bug could hop all across town unimpeded. [Image by kludgebox]
People tend to forget that routers are just little computers, but you can bet the malware industry is well aware of it. That said, I can’t really see the commercial potential of such a virus* - and if it can’t be used to make money, surely it would be a four-week proof-of-concept fad for script kiddies at worst?
[* The inevitable disclaimer here is that I'm not a computer security expert by any stretch of the imagination - if you can explain in more detail, please do so in the comments.]
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NASA revealed today that some of the laptops used by astronauts on the International Space Station were infected with the computer virus Gammima.AG. The laptops, which were carried to the station in July for nutritional programs and email, were believed to be infected when they arrived.
