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DVD Porn Viruses Ravage US Soldiers' Computers
stevegee58 writes "Tom Ricks' Inbox in the Sunday Washington Post reported that bootleg DVDs purchased in Iraqi markets ('souks') are frequently infected with viruses. Iraqi soldiers were affected as well; electronic interaction between Iraqi and US soldiers frequently resulted in a corresponding exchange of viruses from these infected DVDs."
We need to send them virus free porn. Gentlemen time to dump your hard drives to DVD.
Hardware: Don't allow DVD drives.
Software 1: Ummm, Anti-virus software? Hello?
Software 2: Run a VM when accessing DVDs.
Best: Run a Linux distro.
Ok, I'm sure that these aren't necessarily the best solutions (except the last one) but it's something.
The simple truth is that interstellar distances will not fit into the human imagination
- Douglas Adams
When I was in Thailand in 1974, htere were only three places to get cassettes: The Base Exchange (other brances called it the Post Exchange), there there were practically no tapes I wanted to hear, but there were blanks; a government-provided tape center with a library of high quality reel to reels with a good selection that you could copy to cassette; or the local market, where you could get poor-quality copies of damned ner anything.
Tha bad part about the bootlegs from town was the fact that they were analog - the quality left much to be desired. Some had skips that came from the LPs they were recorded from.
The good part about the bootlegs from town was the fact that they were analog - you weren't going to infect your cassette player with XCP or some other virus.
-mcgrew
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
The problem I see is that Soldiers were using Windows-based PC's, WTF is going on? The NSA helped develop SELinux and these guys, in the most critical of the situations, are using the most insecure operating system in the world.
:-/
Talk about National Security
to distribute porn DVDs among the soldiers along with their other assorted rations?
I know that the moralists in americanisthan/jesusland will cry murder, but it seems like a better deal than having infected Computer systems.
perpetually dwelling in the -1 pits
I was stationed in Kuwait in '06-07. We were warned about buying DVDs in Iraq (I would cross the border a couple of times a month) because of viruses. The one specific story i was told was the compromised PCs became part of a botnet which attacked various Israeli internet sites and Playboy.com. I dont know why the skinnies had a mad-on for Hef, i guess they just hate our freedom ;).
The problem I see is that Soldiers were using Windows-based PC's,
Well the training games don't run on SELinux, let alone all the other games they play.
Besides, they buy own their own laptops, if the Bush Company has trouble getting them essentials or housing that doesn't electrify troops, do you really think they have the time or money to get them CDs with SELinux or help them install it? And then what? They boot in Windows 99% of the time because they game and use WebCams to see their kids, etc.
So ya, this is Window's fault if you are trying to distory reality in the hate Windows MS World. Autoload is the problem with a targeted OS. Windows IS NOT THE ONLY OS with autoload, let alone the fact that there are ways to spread this crap WITHOUT autoload.
Want a SELinux targeted Virus, just say so, and give some DVD pirate a couple of hours. It is idiots like you that give people false senses of security when running Linux or OSX, and then Security people have to come in a clean up a mess or a security breach.
What OS you run DOES NOT = LESS or MORE security at this point from an OS architectual standpoint unless you have an older OS without security inherently designed at the core level. (Like Win9x, OS/2, System 9 earlier)
DVD cartoon spreads virus
The virus is hiding in data files sitting alongside the Powerpuff Girls episodes on the DVD. The files let fans create screensavers and wallpaper for their PCs.
The virus does not affect DVD players, and will only infect a PC playing the disk if the additional software is installed and run.
People with up-to-date anti-virus software should avoid being infected, he said.
"Funlove has been around for a couple of years," said Mr Cluley, "which suggests that the people producing the DVD may not have been running up-to-date anti-virus software.
"Old viruses never die," he said, "they just lurk in dark corners and directories."
Having been to Iraq before, I can say with 100% certainty that porn is supposed to be off limits to soldiers. That being the case, where are they purchasing these DVDs from? Are they stopping convoys to buy them from Iraqi markets, or are they seriously not watching what the Iraqis are selling on U.S. bases anymore?
Thank you for your service. The trolls here don't seem to understand that they probably wouldn't have the freedom to post offensive jokes were it not for you and your ilk.
I'd also add that the average literacy rate in the armed forces is higher than the national average.
Chill for a moment. If you read his post again, it is _satire_ not trolling.
Some people are ALWAYS offended when they don't recognize satire..
-s
38 and not living in parent's basement.
Well, I'm not a pimply-faced anything. In fact, I work in the busiest computer repair shop near Camp Lejune (see Marine Boot Camp). I repair laptops (and desktops) all day long that belong to soldiers. I'm regularly cleaning Iraq out of the laptops, and I'm just talking dirt and grime. However, all of them... and I do mean all of them, come in infected with malware, spyware, and viruses. Not only your Smitfraud.C based infections (Smitfraud, virus heat, etc.) but porn dialers, porn redirects and browser hijacks... you name it.
As far as tolerance is concerned, I'm glad that all these marines appear to know absolutely nothing about keeping their machines clean. It keeps me in a paycheck. However, I don't have much tolerance for people who insist that this might be an overblown story. As far as the Parent comment about rape and pillaging... our armed forces have changed radically since the Vietnam days. You can't necessarily blame the guy for his comment though. If what I'm cleaning off these machines is any indication... even if our armed forces aren't raping and pillaging, they sure are thinking of it. Where they are going on the web to screw up their machines like they are points to that conclusion.
"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." -D. Adams
So the R&D chief goes on a rant (to me, in private): "We've tried sending PCs into deployment, and they come back filthy with 'family videos' and viruses. We try sealing up and enclosing the USB/FW ports and DVD slots, and they come back pried open. No computers."
Customer (to me, during requirements review): "The soldiers get issued WinXP notebooks anyhow. Utilize them."
So I was handed the task of managing the resolution to this showdown. My first thought was, "Porn is not my problem." Second thought, "Hell, give them some clean porn ferchrissakes." Third thought, "oh crap -- we can't certify our product if it is a) in the decision making loop for a certain class of UAV, and b) can run any old crapware, including family videos."
So it's not just a porn problem, but a problem with the inadequacy of the Windows OS itself. I know that this is potential flamebait moderation material, but it's a major thorn in our side: it's not a realtime OS, and even the embedded version of XP isn' real time. And it's susceptibility to viruses and hackers really makes it unsuitable for much more than family photos, letters to Jane, and facebook.
Solution: Give them what they want, on their dime, while spending R&D money to prototype what they need. (Sorry - can't describe it.) Then when the inadequacies become painfully apparent, offer them the alternative, ready for development testing.
I can see the fnords!
I have been playing these DVDs in my laptop since I got here with no problems. I have not heard of anyone getting a virus from the DVDs here. I have bought a couple crappy cam movies but most are really very good quality and have caused no prblems. TFA also talked about sharing flash drives with IA soldiers. I would guess that is where the problem lies. I would also be very cautious with the wireless internet that is for sale by the locals, it is not very secure. There have been some minor problems there. BTW here is Northern Iraq.
In Yugoslavia there used to be something called ORA(s), which is an acronym I can't readily translate, but which included very large groups of young people doing some pretty hard jobs for a period of time, e.g. (rail)roadbuilding.
This is a form of service I can subscribe to and would actually like to see re-instated in Croatia. For one, if high-school kids today just picked up the trash arund their schools and rebuilt the demolished bus stops, they would be less prone to littering and demolishing them all over again. IMO, of course.
Ignore this signature. By order.
Try, just for a few seconds, to put yourself in Iraqi shoes and lets talk about someone antagonizing. Imagine that Egypt, Iran, and Syria decided to take serious issue with Israel's treatment of the Palestinians and declared that the Israeli military could no longer enter Gaza or the West Bank. Do you believe that Israel wouldn't fight back? Do you believe that the US wouldn't assist?
It sure would be nice to live in a world as black and white as yours. It sure would be terrible to live in a world so devoid of empathy and rationalization as yours.I'm a network/client admin in Afghanistan. Personally, I turn off autoplay (gpedit.msc) on all government and personal machines connecting to our network here. It's pretty easy and saves a lot of headaches. People pass around infected thumb drives so much here, containing it was a problem until we did this.
I also wish Norton knew how to get rid of malware that sets up a service in Windows. Every time a computer gets infected with one of those, I have to manually remove it.