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Symantec Claims They Knew About Slammer In Advance

Posted by michael on from the marketing-ploy dept.

truthsearch writes "Wired is reporting 'Symantec claims to have identified the Slammer worm that ravaged the Internet during the last weekend of January hours before anyone else did. Symantec then shared the information only with select customers, leaving the rest of the global community to get slapped around by Slammer.' I'm not bothered I didn't know Slammer was coming, but Symantec has a moral responsibility to inform the public if it thinks millions will be affected." It isn't clear to me how Symantec could know, hours in advance, about a worm which took ten minutes to spread throughout the entire Internet, unless they had something to do with its release. Update: 02/14 16:54 GMT by M : Wired has their math wrong; Symantec apparently had at most 20-30 minutes of early warning. Symantec claims in this press release that they discovered the worm "hours before it began rapidly propagating".

7 of 548 comments (clear)

  1. Business aside there are moral Obligations by haplo21112 · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    I know they make there money doing the virus defense business, however if they really knew and didn't bother to alert the world to this threat, they right up there with Sadam and company in my book. This is gross criminal negligence in my book, if my company was heavly affected I'd take 'em to court!

    --
    Power Corrupts,Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely, leaving one person(group)in charge is absolutely corrupt.
  2. Re:Doubtful. by stratjakt · · Score: 4, Flamebait

    I can bring mysql, oracle or postgresql down as easily as SQL server. You can get root in a poorly secured linux box, or hardlink out of a poorly configured chroot jail, just as easily as you can get a process to run with administrative rights on a poorly secured NT domain.

    There are as many 'hotfixes' and 'service packs' for linux based software, they just call them patches and releases.

    Linux just isnt ubiquitous enough to be a worthwhile target. Yet.

    All the bragging and dipshittery that uninformed OS fanboys are doing will bite them in the ass in a big way if linux is adopted into the mainstream.

    --
    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
  3. Re:Euro-wussies read this! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Are they wussies or just a bit more thoughtful than you?
    Are you will to kill her to get to Sadam?

  4. Re:Doubtful. by howardjp · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Microsoft cannot sell a Unix varient without violating the terms of their contract with SCO concerning Xenix. And I pray if they did go Unix, they'd pick a Unix like BSD. Linux is just as bad as Windows and often worse.

  5. David Copperfield Is My Cousin by Acidic_Diarrhea · · Score: -1, Flamebait
    You are clearly an uninformed IT fucktard. Since you don't have any formal education in the field of Computer Science, I will try to use the same ambiguous terminology that you have used. Now, the underlying "core", [the word that has spewed forth from your asshole, or face? I guess it doesn't matter, there's no difference.] to the current Windows environment is just as stable as UNIX. In fact, the man who was most singlehandedly responsible for the development of the NT kernel, was also involved in the original implementation of UNIX at Parc. Of course, you don't know any of this because you're just another anime-watching faggot that believes he has knowledge simply because you've installed Linux. Congrats you fucking asshat! You've won the Moron of the Day award!

    Microsoft will never go open source and you will never touch a female human. You eat shit and smell foul because of it. Go back to whatever backwards land you came from and stay out of the United States.

    --
    I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
  6. What an idiot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    Yes, I do believe the viruses come from miscreants sitting in Mommy's and Daddy's basement, and not from the software houses.

    If you have some proof that Symantec et al. are responsible, then let's see it. I'm sure the whole world would be very interested in the details. But if you don't have any proof, then running around saying such things so no better than saying, "I can't prove it, but I'm convinced all Italians are in the mob, all blacks are lazy, all the Irish are drunks, all women can't drive, all Linux users are arrogant slobs", etc.

    In other words, put up or STFU.

  7. Re:try reading the news instead of israeli propoga by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    You love racist states like Israel so it must be not true! What a moron...