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Writing Viruses for Fun and Profit
JMPrice writes "There's a short
article over at zdnet that explores a future synergy between viruses and spam, i.e. international crackdown on spam and open relays makes spammers opt to use infected computers instead as relays, and speculates a relationship between the virus writers and spammers."
Has it really become harder for spammers to remain anonymous ? Anyways, if it was really for spamming purposes the virus would just start open relaying.
future synergy between viruses and spam
Sounds like something out of Dilbert... time load up the Bullfighter.
Are you local? There's nothing for you here!
Any spammer using this technique will be entering the realms of cyber-terrorism, and will be liable for a big prison sentence and dedicated criminal investigations. Given that spam is advertising, it probably wouldn't be very hard to track the perpetrators down once the appropriate warrants are issued. I predict that either this report is overblown, or a few spammers will end up getting the buggering they deserve in prison.
If I seem short sighted, it is because I stand on the shoulders of midgets
Seriously, how many spammers make enough money to be able to pay virus writers any decent sum for their work?
Article: "The virus many suspect to be sending spam is called Sobig"
.sig
Random email: "Please see the attached zip file for details."
Should I expect to find "herbal remedies" in this zip file?
Like _I_ can be more sarcastic!
Any biologist will tell you that in an environment where there is only one type of organism, any infection that they are susceptable to that comes along will have catastrophic effects. To avoid this you need diversity. In computing the problem with having windows/intel as the vast majority is that any attack that targets that is going to cause a lot of trouble. Standards that have been implemented on many platforms and architectures are what is needed but that goes against Microsoft's desire for control of everything. However, that desire is doomed to fail because if they fail to take control they fail and if they win complete control they fail because of the lack of diversity.
it is good to have lots of operating systems and processors out there, anything else would be suicide. With proper diversity we could control both the virus and spam problems.
"I have the attention span of a strobe lit goldfish, please get to the point quickly!"
So if virus writers and spammers are the same folks (or even just partners), that makes life so much easier. Only one group of people to have publically drawn and quartered. Saves time and money (and cleanup costs).
--GrouchoMarx
Card-carrying member of the EFF, FSF, and ACLU. Are you?
I see that the Senoir Associate Editor wrote this piece. That may explain the embarrasingly outdated technology quotes, like One reason for this success is that the latest variants include Zip files, but with reference to the foolproof quote, what I'm inclined to believe is that the makers of ZoneAlarm paid for this sort of tripe (advert on the article). Brown Envelope journalism at it's best !
"I am not bound to please thee with my answers" [William Shakespeare]
The problem is that we are trying to catch spammers, instead of people who sell the very advertised products and services. Just follow the money, people. That way it won't matter how well spammers hide their identity. It all works because someone gets the money, which is absolutely trivial to track. If few CEOs went to jail because their companies' products were in spam, I'm sure other CEOs would at the very least stop to think about it. It is really that simple.
Karma: Positive (probably because of superiour intellect)
The spam was being generated from multiple locations simultaneously, and from IP addresses that looked like standard ISP subscribers, mostly in the US and Western Europe. It looks suspiciously like the spam was being sent from Trojanised PCs.
Bearing in mind that the people most likely to want to force Doxdesk.com off the web were browser parasite writers, it seems to me that there is a definite link now between these parasites, certain viruses/trojans/worms and spammers. Just another bit of proof that these people have no respect for the law.
Never email donotemail@WeAreSpammers.com
It's difficult to see how spammers could remain annonymous. At the moment, they're an annoyance, but if they enter the realm of law-breaking to this extent, it is likely that there will be a major crackdown. And this shall not be difficult, because of the very nature of spam -- to get you to buy a product. Therefore, there must be a link to the spammer.
It won't work.
((lambda x ((x))) (lambda x ((x))))
This has been the consensus at SPAM-L for quite some time. You might want to subscribe.
Google for SPAM-L's FAQ
So, Sobig is a worm that infects your machine and sends spam ? Let me rephrase this : Sobig is a worm that infects your *Windows* machine and sends spam.
Since Microsoft has started a crusade against Spam (to free-up bandwidth for their own humongous patches and service packs no doubt, they never do anything without a reason), shouldn't they start by fixing the very platform that makes it possible for worms to send spam ?
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
Please note, in order for Outlook 20X6 to operate properly, you must first place this workstation on your DMZ for no less than 15 minutes, in order for it to receive IMAP7NukeViagraHGH.D@MM
This will allow you to have a high speed, reliable, DRM'd Microsoft Email eXPerience! (tm)
"Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus."
That would be great. Suppose my market is being threatened by Megasoft's new Office XYZ product that beats the pants off of mine. All I would need to do is send out spams _advertising_ Office XYZ, and the cops would run over and arrest their CEO and put them out of business. Bwahaha!
Some Spammers=Some Hackers
Today's court ruling in favor of the ISP Earthlink vs Spam Ring Leader Howard Carmack got me to thinking.
Are ALL Spammers doing it for a profit? I find that many to most SPAM emails I receive in my inbox have unresolved links. Meaning; you can't "take advantage of the DEALS you are getting". (not that you'd necessarily want to) What would be the purpose of sending out emails such as this in great quantity, and using the man hours, hardware, etc to do it?
I think it may have to do partially with "the hacker mentality" Not all hackers do things for the common mythical reasons we like to think they do. (Revenge on the corporate world, profit, fame) - they do it because they can and a lot do it because they are mentally obsessed with it.
This was the attitude of a former colleague of mine that was hacker. He came from a rich family, was very well known in the community, and had a 1000 easier ways to get what he was wanting accomplished. He was obsessed first of all with hacking, second doing it with a Macintosh, and 3rd just because he could.
I'm not alluding to hackers having a mental problem, nor really comparing hackers to spammers.
This ruling, just made me think of motivation. Maybe if we can tap the motivation for Spammers, then maybe we can come up with the solution.
Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
Seeing as how spammers are paid for the messages that they send out, how is it possible to track the messages that have been sent using this type of method? If you've got millions of nodes around the world sending messages on your behalf, how do you tell how many you've sent so that you can bill your clients?
I'm really a good natured person 99% of the time. But, the easiest solution to this is not to fine the spammers we catch. Rather, a few violent and gory executions, broadcast on PPV Friday prime time, and I can imagine that you'd find a lot less spam in your mail box on Monday.
The same type of solution would work with auto accidents. If you want to reduce the number of accidents, remove the seat belts, air bags and ABS brakes. Line the dash with 6" steel spikes and I can bet you'll find the number of accidents drops to next to nothing over night because we all become the world's safest drivers.
It's all about incentive.
Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
Simply institute a fine of $1000.00 per ad to the company in the virus-transmitted spam. They are easy to find as they give you the website/telephone numbers in the spam it's self.
To hell with the spammers, target the companies in the content.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
While being anonymous for anonymity's sake isn't very hard to do, it is hard for a spammer to remain anonymous and be effective at the same time. These people are selling products, at the very least they can be traced to the guy who paid them to send the spam.
Buy our new penis enlargement pills!
Available at... errr... go figure
While ISPs are not to blame for this problem, ISPs are in the position to correct this problem. This is not about fixing blame, it is about fixing the problem. Keep that in mind.
Now, as I've said in previous posts about this sort of thing, it all boils down to preventing the spread of infection - mathematically, if the expected value of the number of hosts infected by any given host is greater than one, then the infection will be much like a supercritical mass of fissionable material. So the trick is to reduce the expected value to less than one.
Now, there are plenty of ways to do this, most of which involve the ISP taking some action.
In short, take responsiblity for FIXING the problem, and force your downstream customers to do the same.
I have been receiving a steady stream of virus laden emails from udw.ac.za (a university in South Africa). I have repeatedly contacted them as well as their up stream provider (saix.com). All SAIX does is send a nastygram to UDW. All UDW does is experiment in topological auto-proctology. Were SAIX to say "Alright - we've had five complaints this past week. You obviously are not doing anything to solve the problem, so until you do, we are blocking port 25 outbound from you" then UDW would be HIGHLY motivated to correct the problem.
But right now, most ISPs have the attitude of Mind Over Matter - "We don't mind, so it don't matter. Over and out." As such, the problem persists and grows. ISPs mail servers handle a steadily increasing stream of viruses and spam, for which they complain bitterly about having to buy new equipment (while raising their fees), but they don't actually try to SOLVE the problem.
If ISPs were to say, "The line must be drawn here. Here, and no further." - if they were to start blocking viruses and spam, disconnecting users that spread them, and requiring their downstream to do the same, then the expected value of the number of hosts any one host can infect would drop to a tiny fraction of 1, and the reaction would damp out. Viruses would not longer spread like wildfire, the news would no longer report upon them, and the virus writers would no longer get egobo from writing them.
However, as long as ISPs continue to do their best Sgt. Schultz of Stalag 13 ("I SEE NOTHING! NOTHING!") impersonation, as long as ISPs say "It's not our fault - we are not to blame, why should we do anything about it!" then the problem will only grow.
(/me sits back and waits for the inevitable flames from ISPs wishing to do exactly that...)
www.eFax.com are spammers
Or for those not so keen on abverbiations, Problem Exist Between Keyboard And Chair.
Make sure you got the latest anti-virus program. Do not open attachments from prople you don't know. Be wary about opening attachement from people you do know. Avoid HTML-enchanted (ha!) mail like the plauge. If possible, run another e-mail client than Outlook and Outlook Express. Set up and maintain a firewall that can block traffic that goes out as well as in. Use common sence - you wouldn't enter a house of ill repute in real life in fear of a STD, so you shouldn't visit a website of ill repute in fear of getting a virus or worse.
Seriously... if more people used their heads to think with and was a little more suspious about things, this would not be a problem.
Everything in the world is controlled by a small, evil group to which, unfortunately, no one you know belongs.
I think real news here is not that people are writing viri for profit, but that ZDnet is still operating. Seriously, I thought that they went out of business years ago.
1. Write devastating super-virus
2. Release it
3. Destroy unsuspecting internet
4. ???
5. Profit!
ObSlashdotJoke aside, I always wondered where step 4 came in. Clearly, from the number of viruses doing the rounds now, bragging rights alone is enough of a draw for many; equally clearly, from the vast weight of bugs in viruses, it primarly draws teenage l33t hax0rs with more testosterone than talent.
All the devestation of every trojan and virus in history has been without a clear step 4. The addition of a step 4 worries me a lot, and as has been said before even non-Windows people like me can't feel smug and safe forever.
You win again, gravity!
viral marketing! ;)
Calling people like this "hackers" is like calling punks who spray paint graffiti on railroad cars "painters" and "artists".
--
"Open source is good." - Steve Jobs
"Open source is evil." - Microsoft
In one of the first of these that I saw back in May, the spammer apparently hadn't yet learned the art of using the Bcc: header, and all the addresses it was being sent to were clearly harvested from one newsgroup that I regularly read (and post in). That's how I knew it was spammed, and not just an "address book dipper" virus. And for some time, people have been spamming binaries pictures newsgroups with .exe attachments.
I'm glad to do my part in creating a diverse computing environment by running OS X instead of the leading virus-ridden OS. Is there any truth to the rumor that Microsoft is going to rename Outlook Express as ActiveVirus[tm]? :-)
#naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
Obviously, you shouldn't treat a suicide bomber or a person who flies planes into buildings the same way you should treat a spammer. Being staked to a red ant hill under a desert sun would have no real effect on (the remaining itty bitty pieces of) the former.
/. If the government wants us to respect the law, it should set a better example.
Simply, those writing spam e-mails are trying to sell something. Spam is (for the most part, before more than now) legal. Taking over drone computers (hacking / virii) to send your spam e-mail is not. You have to make money from your business somehow. If you send spam from infected / hacked computers sending people to your website that obviously collects money for something... well, you have to have a name behind money collection. Someone has to own the paypal account or the charge vendor account... They will find you simply enough. In my mind this whole concept is bogus, as you can't hack or infect and send advertisments. That's like advertising Giant Eagle by spraypainting your daily sales on the front of buildings.
I haven't posted in so long, my sig is out of date.
Now, if they're using hacked computers, they're on the wrong side of the law. Period. We're not talking civil damages any longer. The discussion point is how long they'll be in "Federal pound-me-in-the-ass Prison".
This is the dumbest idea from a spammers viewpoint I've ever read. However, I'm not under the impression many of these guys are intelligent. The only reason they've been able to defeat filters and other mechanisms is either stupid admins or half-hearted implementations.
I personally hope they do it! I'd love to see a few spend some time in our lovely Federal Corrections Facilities.
Computer Science is Applied Philosophy
I run honeypots and work in security and I can tell you firsthand that this is definitely an accurate conclusion to draw. People exploit Windows boxes all the time and the only things I ever see them do with them are opening up spam relays or hooking it up as a bot to a warez IRC channel. There's absolutely no skill involved, it's just script kiddies with automated tools taking advantage of lazy Windozers who forget to set SQL passwords or ever patch their system with the latest updates. It's pathetic, and it really makes me think that spam can never be stopped no matter how much legislation gets passed.
" they will almost certainly end up mandating use of some (commercial, windows only) antivirus package."
No, that is exactly why I phrased it as I did - "require the user to keep his machine virus free."
If a machine is sending virus laden emails, then it is not virus free. Otherwise, innocent until proven guilty.
As for the attachements - I am sorry, but your right to swing your arm ends where my nose begins, your right to play your stereo ends where it enters my house. Society can quite legitimately ask its members to curtail dangerous behaviors. I can think of no circumstance in which sending an executable program as-is is needed or even wise. Not only will zipping the program reduce the size of the program (and thus the load on the mail server) it will add CRC protection to the program so that an error in transmission has a higher chance of being detected and corrected.
"my company already does such checks on internal mail, and it drives me mad, but it's their network so they can do as they please."
Guess what - Your ISP's networks is THEIR network, so by your own arguement THEY can do as THEY please.
www.eFax.com are spammers
UPS can't ship Cocaine. It's illegal to do so. Regardless weather the dealer told them it was powdered sugar or not, UPS is either responsible for being part of the transaction or they can plea bargain out and tattle on the dealer himself.
The advertising companies first of all can't use virii to send spam. Secondarily, and in direct response to your objection, they can't claim they thought their illegal practice is legal because of what they heard from the company they are advertising for. Ignorance is no excuse (to do something illegal).
I haven't posted in so long, my sig is out of date.
Then they'll try to sue the anti-virus companies for blocking their advertising.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
The brutalrape spammer did more. His virus infected computers to install a tiny web server and a few pages. Victims had graphic rape images on their machines. The virus "phoned home" when the victim went online. The spammer took the victim's IP address and added it to his nameserver as (one of the) IP address(es) for his spamvertized hostname.
Those getting the spam would complain about the graphic images and spam site - on a victim's computer. The tiny web site would have a few pages including one which would be a (possibly JavaScript encrypted) redirector to the actual signup page (usually a signup page rather than the actual site - one would have to pay before finding the location of that).