Slashdot Mirror
P2P Spam?
Sgt York writes "In a NYT article (republished in the Houston Chronicle, no subscription required) experts at CERT, F-secure, Trusecure, and the Hall of Justice (see article) think that SoBig.F is a spam scheme in the making. They say that SoBig.F is the 6th variant in an ongoing experiment with the possible goal of setting up a distributed spam network, to be rented out to the highest bidder. If that is their goal, they are well on their way. Another disturbing note in the article is that "In the case of four of the six programs, a new version was launched immediately after the self-timed expiration date of the preceding one". SoBig.F expires in two weeks. "
So someones business plan is to admit to writing/distributing the worm and then rent out the affected boxes?
I must be missing something because it seems to me that such a business would be immediately sues into oblivion.
They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty nor security
... that Sobig.F expires on September 10th, and the next one will probably come out on September 11th.
libertarianswag.com
I would have assumed that this was a six degrees attack on sensitive structures, given the back doors. Flood the network with viruses, and some moron will eventually lead you to the computer you've been actually targetting.
meh
This protocol allows anonymous delivery of data within your networks. I predict death of feasibility within 1-2 years. No amount of legislation or threat of legal action can stop the flow from a vast supply of potential "dumb" drones.
Welcome to the Internet, 2003.
Next up, authenticated delivery, whitelisting, and the death of the mail server as we know it.
Spam merchants and virus/worm writers are collaborating and will collaborate, and build networks that make spam filters entirely useless.
Of course Sobig is about spam. Why else does some mysterious but well-financed entity want to control half the desktops of the world?
How about this spam technique, which I predict will occur in 6-9 months' time:
Tampering with real emails, inserting the spam message mixed with the real email.
Does that scare anyone? It makes a mockery of current technology for fighting spam.
Ceci n'est pas une signature
Maybe its just that the virus writer is actually starting to follow the kinds of ideas that geeks often toss out. "Oh yeah, if I was making a virus I'd have it..."
.doc files, or something similarly nasty. And he'll only share the key if we put deposit money in a Swiss bank account! ... hey, that's not a bad idea.
Granted, it still exploits the most obvious problem in computing: the people who use Outlook in its "Automatically Run Attachments" mode, but it would be foolish to ignore the largest and most potentially devastating venue.
Once the guy figures out exactly the heuristic to hit the most targets in the shortest amount of time, he can put a real payload in it, like a file encrypter for
skye
Sobig scans the address book, cached webpages, text files on the harddrive, etc., for email addresses. Has it occurred to anyone that the rapid reproduction and spreading may just be a side effect of a spammer trying to gather the largest email list on earth? Imagine what they could do with a list that size? Even people who are careful with their personal email addresses could lose them to the spammer by their parents getting infected.
... and it's NEARLY untraceable back to you.**
.scr and .pif extensions and curled in a fetal position under my deskand took a nap.
Now, add this on top of how the sobig already spoofs emails and you get other people doing your spam for you
-Ab
** I know they can be traced, at least to the last computer, but getting back to the source is tough cause people tend to delete the original virrused email. I know I traced several attacks and helped notify the host companies/universities and got them cleaned up, but after my 7th track, I got fed up and gave up, adjusted my MTA to block all mails with the
Nothing fails quite like prayer.
Hmm.. how about a spam virus as a business "hit"? Even though the business will deny it, what could they do? They'd still be dragged through the dirt. If it has an effect either way, don't be surprised if it is used...
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
IMHO, the only way for SMTP to be replaced by something secure & authenticated (a la whitelists) is if the current system goes belly up in the most insane, painful and costly way imaginable. I wish it wasn't so, but reasoning, debate and research have proven useless to convince the powers that be that something needs to be done. MASSIVE, huge spamming, unstoppable is a way that will costs billions without doing any physical harm. If that doesnt trigger change, nothing will.
When will I end this grieving ? When will my future begin ?