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'Friendly' Worms Could Spread Software Fixes

Posted by Zonk on from the perfect-way-to-make-a-rogue-ai dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft researchers are working out the perfect strategies for worms to spread through networks. Their goal is to distribute software patches and other friendly information via virus, reducing load on servers. This raises the prospect of worm races — deploying a whitehat worm to spread a fix faster than a new attacking worm can reach vulnerable machines."

9 of 306 comments (clear)

  1. Annnndddd... by RandoX · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What makes this any more legal than a black hat worm?

    1. Re:Annnndddd... by sm62704 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      How many people went to prison for the Sony XCP rootkit?

      That's right, none. There's your clue.

      --
      mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
  2. This is an old idea by sm62704 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It keeps resurfacing every now and then. Get this through your thick skulls: It's my computer. Keep your God damned hands off of it. I don't care how good your intentions are, you have no right to infect MY computer with anything at all, good or bad.

    If you use a tool like this on your own network, fine, but if I find it on my own you had better cover your tracks because I'll go ballistic.

    --
    mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
  3. Re:Prior Art by deadzaphod · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Very, very old idea. The first worm of this type was called "Reaper" and was created to kill the "Creeper" worm. http://www.viruslist.com/en/viruses/encyclopedia?chapter=153310937

  4. Caused Issues the last time someone tried it.. by ironwill96 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Anyone remember when someone did this for Blaster and created the "Welchia" worm variant? An article on it is located here: White Hat Worm and Microsoft even complained that it "generated excess network traffic". Now they are proposing to do the same thing? How are they going to make the worm spread, through vulnerabilities like Welchia did? Hope they don't use an RPC vulnerability and cause your system to crash like it did!

    I guess this goes with all of the tags we've seen today on articles of "whatcouldpossiblygowrong?".

    --
    "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." - Tennyson
  5. This one is different. by Bananatree3 · · Score: 4, Insightful
    First off this wouldn't be some whitehat's haphazard cure worm like the Welchia worm. This worm would proabably be signed by microsoft, made by microsoft. from TFA:

    Because no central server needs to provide and coordinate all the downloads, Software patches that spread like worms could be faster and easier to distribute because no central server must bear all the load. This is more P2P patch distribution, which is not a bad idea.
    1. Re:This one is different. by KublaiKhan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And what, exactly, is stopping someone from forging an MS cert on their own worm (or, simpler, giving the appearance of a legit one--y'know, like bank website phishing), exploiting the worm dispersal mechanism, and rootkitting everyone who's stupid enough to let this worm in?

      --
      In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
      A stately pleasure dome decree
  6. not exactly by Brigadier · · Score: 4, Insightful


    If I'm not mistaken according to Micro Soft's EULA you don't actually own the software they do. They are just giving you permission to use it. Though you do own the hardware the worm in question would only affect or change the Soft Ware. In addition you neither own your network connection or most likely the building you live in ( dorm, apartment, mortgaged home etc) so from a purly legal stand point you have no leg to stand on. Though I do completely understand and support the meaning behind yrou rant :)

  7. Re:A viral implementation of Windows Update? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Clippy worm: "I see you have Ubuntu installed, would you like to purchase and install Windows Vista?"