What Does a Spreading Worm Look Like?

quibbs0 writes "When a new worm spreads around the world, people want to know if they are protected. How fast is it? How does it spread? A new simulation program developed by Symantec Research Labs not only has the answers, it also provides pictures."

Comments

Interesting article in IEEE spectrum

[karvind]

On similar theme, current issue of IEEE Spectrum has article on How to Hook Worms

CAIDA did this for earlier worms...

[m0rningstar]

... and in a WWW based format, as opposed to the executable from an AV company. I think it was two of their researchers -- Colleen Shannon and David Moore. The animation for Code Red is here .

end to end linkage

[Anonymous Coward]

One of the reasons that worms spread exclusively on Windows is because you need end to end linkage. A simplified model is if I wanted to send a message to Kevin Bacon, I'd talk to friend A who knows an actor, who talks to Friend B, then friend C, who then talks to Kevin. If I tell someone who doesn't speak the language, the linkage is broken and my original message can no longer propogate.

In other words, a computer can only infect other computers through being infected itself (unless if the system is just serving files). Worms can't move through unsupported systems. Once it hits OS X or Linux system, it can't move anywhere. Windows is the only OS with critical mass high enough to achieve this. Symbian for mobile devices. This is why you won't see any Windows CE worms unless if it gains in terms of marketshare.

Man, this sounds familiar..

[jcr]

As it happens, a friend of mine, (former boss) happens to be doing something very much along these lines.

-jcr