Don't Forget That Worms Happen Everywhere

friday2k writes "Securityfocus has a nice column on Worms and their origin in 1988. It explains what everybody should never forget. We have dealt with *NIX worms (Sadmind, li0n, ...) and they will come back again. Maybe then the MS fanatics will laugh and say: didn't we always tell you Open Source is insecure (too?) ..."

Comments

Worms first spotted in 1988

[InigoMontoya(tm)]

Good eye, spotter.

Who should we send the wormsign spotting bonus to?

Dammit, where are those carryalls??!?!?!

InigoMontoya(tm)

Re:Don't for get that they are released under GPL

[Have Blue]

And don't forget that the GPL is evil, and any program you write with it is like a virus. Hey, wait a minute.. :P

Don't forget Morris!

[HiredMan]

On November 2, 1988 the "Morris Worm" was unleashed on the net. It jumped from college to college (that was most of the net then) and, because of a bug in the code, would reproduce itself within the machine until it ran the machine into the ground as it tried to infect others.

Imagine Code Red in which almost all servers are NT/IIS and there is no web, no central authority, no "experts"...
It caused the Inet as it was to cease to function. People had to pull their boxes off-line to keep from getting repeatedly infected.

The confusion and panic that followed lead to the creation of CNet and was the start of most of the big, early Inet security organizations that exist today.

<old codger>
You young whippersnappers don't know from worms. We used to create worms on punch cards and you had to mail them around to get infected! Those were the days!
</old codger>

I suddenly feel old and have to go lie down....

=tkk

Re:Linux antivirus software

[mrfrostee]

Maybe most people write their own. I did when the local "authorities" insisted that I must install software to scan for Windows viruses in order to hook up a Linux computer:

#cat wrightAntiVirus
find $1 $2 $3 -iname \*.exe -or -iname \*.doc -or -iname \*.xls -ok /bin/rm -f () \;

If that happens...

[SpanishInquisition]

We just have to claim that Linux worms :

• are faster
• are more portable
• use less ressources
• can be more easily modified since you have access to the source
• Aren't tied to a single vendor

That should make the point of the superiority of Linux worms over Windows worms and end all the FUD.

Code Red

[briggsb]

Talked about his experience as a worm. In the interview here. It has some advice for newer worms and viruses.

WindowsWorm:Whitehouse.gov::LinuxWorm:??

[Jucius Maximus]

If the big Windows worm attacks Whitehouse.gov, does that mean that the big Linux worm, whenever it arrives, will attack Whitehouse.com?

Talk about biting the hand that feeds you!

Sendmail? Elegant? Minimalistic?

[alispguru]

In the long run, elegant, minimalistic code is easier to understand, and therefore easier to secure (examples are Sendmail vs. qmail, or BIND vs. djbdns).

That's the first (and hopefully only) time I ever hope to see the words "elegant", "minimalistic", and "Sendmail" together in the same sentence.

Any day now...

[why-is-it]

Right now there aren't any non-proof-of-concept Linux viruses.

I can just see it:

Hi! How are you?
I send you this perl script that must be run as root in order to have your advice
See you later. Thanks

I've got a question...

[unformed]

Securityfocus has a nice column on Worms and their origin in 1988.

Okay, if worms appearded in 1988, then what the hell ate all the dead bodies in the thousands of years ago?

HEY!

[Psmylie]

I resemble that remark!

err...

I have an idea for our Microsoft problem...

[Nastard]

My dog had worms. We put it to sleep.

Hmm...