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Targeted Worm Hits Kazaa's Network

Posted by timothy on from the worms-churn-the-earth dept.

sh0rtie writes: "Kaspersky Labs and the BBC are reporting that the Fasttrack network that Kazaa uses has been hit by its first targeted worm virus dubbed 'Benjamin.' Is this a clever RIAA creation or that of a mischievous virus writer? I guess we will never know, but the result is that it seems to be bringing unsuspecting users machines to a crawl with full hard drives and clogging up the Fasttrack network with massive amounts of traffic bringing more headaches for ISPs and sysadmins worldwide."

5 of 300 comments (clear)

  1. Overhyped? by CmdrTaco+(editor) · · Score: 0, Troll
    ...under the name of the infected computer's owner it opens an anonymous web site from which it displays advertising banners. This way Benjamin's creator profits by the resulting increase in advertising displays.

    Wow! I think this is the first time I've seen a worm creator actually try to turn a profit. It doesn't really seem to be all that malicious, it also seems that this would be an easy way to catch the person repsonsible. Just find out where the checks are going and arrest him!

  2. The Brilliant Worm is by Haiku+4+U · · Score: 0, Troll

    what you get. Why use Kaaza?? It's a pile of shit!

  3. Re:How is it activated? by rkent · · Score: 0, Troll

    I'm assuming users that download this file must specifically execute it. If this is true, then IMHO any person who downloads an unknown .exe from a P2P network and runs it without at least scanning it, deservers what they get.

    Oh come on, cut some slack. You know as well as everyone that non-exe files are associated with an app based on extension, and double clicking (for example) an mp3 file opens it in WinAmp. So if this thing gets downloaded and aliased as "Simpsons Theme.mp3", you should be able to forgive people for double-clicking on it.

  4. Re:yeah, it was the RIAA by rhazes · · Score: 0, Troll

    bout time i saw shpongle on slashdot....even if it was just a sig.

  5. sabotage.....bad..... by tomstdenis · · Score: -1, Troll

    While I disagree with sabotaging a system because people abuse in this case I couldn't really defend it. Kazaa [et al.] are piracy tools that waste shitloads of bandwidth. Anything that scares people off them is good.

    You say hypocrite I say fuckin-monkeys using P2P get what they deserve. Now if this was a virus for FTP or HTTP [or NNTP or SMTP] I would have a different position. FTP/HTTP for instance have far more legitimate uses than P2P protocols.

    I mean when is the last time you submited a school assignment through Kazaa? Or downloaded a redhat ISO from E-Donkey2k etc...

    Tom

    --
    Someday, I'll have a real sig.