Slashdot Mirror
New Microsoft Worm Coming Soon?
Seft sent in a solid article running on the BBC discussing the next potential worm explosion on the heels of a recent
Security Bulletin from Microsoft. The article is a somewhat general topic piece on worms in general.
No excuse on this one. It's not like Blaster happened eons ago, and this is virtually the same type of flaw. Patch your systems.
So more companys like Air Canada can get hit and blame it on the worm makers, yet never blame it on there stupid IT department that had three weeks to patch the system and never did.
Actually Sino-US relations have been constantly improving going all the way back to Nixon. Carter also did a lot to further relations. There are also plenty of US businesses operating in China (some of which have been mentioned on Slashdot in the past).
Mod me down, troll/flamebait, I know.
However, mod me up if you feel that this might make people start patching their systems.
Get your own free personal location tracker
A worm/virus that trashes it's host doesn't do a good job of propagating. These sorts of programs can do so at a 'time bomb' setpoint, if the designer feels the virus/worm will have propagated widely by that time, of course.
A Good Intro to NetBS
Start thinking of us that operate in the real world. Cocky statements like "We've had plenty of warning about this, so it's only the criminally unprepared that will be hit right" sound outright stupid. The patch was released last Wednesday. To coordinate business departments, users and techincal staff along with testing requirements doesn't happen overnight. You do your best to patch as fast as possible and take steps to add a firewall layer but you have to deal with business requirements. Switching from Microsoft won't solve this problem either....OpenSSH anyone?
However, I don't mind Microsoft security problems, it keeps food on my table.
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
I laughed when I read that
"However, these products are no longer supported. Users of these products are strongly encouraged to upgrade to later versions."
Does MS really expect the average Win95/98 user to read that and think 'Oh! I better go out and get me a copy of that Winders XP. It may have viruses and worms but at least I'll be supported.'
Other way around, son. US business is so hopelessly dependent on cheap Chinese labour and just in time manufacturing that there'd be chaos if China was embargoed.
I got the Michelangelo virus back in the day: One morning I came into work and there was paint all over my ceiling...
Anyway, I believe the days of boot sector trashing viruses are over. It's much better to root and take control of a large number of systems than to indiscriminately destroy one or two. Recent discussion regarding the SoBig variants illustrates this point (ie, possible use as a Distributed SPAM engine). There are already numerous viruses out there which allow the perpetrator to orchestrate a massive DDoS.
The "evolution" of which you speak is merely an evolution of desire and sophistication by the creators of such malware.
I have something in common with Stephen Hawking...
A virus/worm that did this wouldn't make as big of a splash when the payload executes. Anti-virus companies would have updated virus defs out there within a day or two of distribution and a lot of people would become disinfected before the symptoms kicked in. Plus, the more damaging the payload, the wider the news will reach and people without anti-virus software would use free removal tools.
-Lucas
constantly improving
Over the long haul, yes.
But there were some points of tension when the U.S. cruddy intelligence led to the mistaken bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, and when a U.S. spyplane flying off the coast made an emergency landing on a Chinese island.
Meanwhile, the government there is learning that it can divert attention from inconvenient issues (like corruption between the military and industry, lack of an open democratic process) by exploiting nationalistic sentiment (We vs They).
This is in the same grand tradition that is done in the United States and in Russia, so the rest of the world can feel safe knowing that all 3 of the largest nuclear superpowers are populated by emotional peasants.
"Provided by the management for your protection."
So, was it perjury or treason? You decide.
Either way it's not a set of ethics that would induce me to resume business with them ... ever.
Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.