Slashdot Mirror
Twitter Used To Control Botnet Machines
DikSeaCup writes "Arbor Network's Jose Nazario, an expert on botnets, discovered what looks to be the first reported case of hackers using Twitter to control botnets. 'Hackers have long used IRC chat rooms to control botnets, and have continually used clever technologies, such as peer-to-peer strategies, to counter efforts to track, disrupt and sometimes decapitate the bots. Perhaps what's surprising then is that it's taken so long for hackers to take Twitter to the dark side.' The next step, of course, is to code the tweets in such a way that they aren't so suspicious."
+1 insightful
Twitter has plenty of uses. The issue has been that it's primary use is reinforcing the ego-centrism of teenagers. Cars and planes were derided as toys when they were invented. Twitter (read: mircoblogging) has tons of potential just waiting for imaginative developers.
Where i work i proposed using it to send alerts to students and faculty. "The DC campus will be closed until tomorrow. Ashburn campus will open at 1030". (guess where i work)
"Students of Macroecon 101, Tuesday class. Your professor was eaten by a grue. Class is canceled until further notice."
Personally, i think twitter should become a feature within other sites, or an open protocol all sites can use.
Utilizing the synergization of benchmark e-solutions to pre-workaround action items!