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Microsoft: No Botnet Is Indestructible
CWmike writes "No botnet is invulnerable, a Microsoft lawyer involved with the Rustock take-down said Tuesday, countering claims that another botnet was 'practically indestructible.' Richard Boscovich, a senior attorney with Microsoft's Digital Crime Unit said, 'If someone says that a botnet is indestructible, they are not being very creative legally or technically. Nothing is impossible. That's a pretty high standard.' Instrumental in the effort that led to the seizure of Rustock's command-and-control servers in March, Boscovich said Microsoft's experience in take-downs of Waledac in early 2010 and of Coreflood and Rustock this year show that any botnet can be exterminated. 'To say that it can't be done underestimates the ability of the good guys,' Boscovich said. 'People seem to be saying that the bad guys are smarter, better. But the answer to that is 'no.''"
What Microsoft is saying is that it isn't hard, and that they can do it. They are basically mocking the guys who said it was indestructible, and, to put it kindly, saying that "they suck". This is Microsoft throwing down the gauntlet and saying, "we are better than you." Who knows, maybe they are.
The proof's in the pudding. Until they actually do take it down, its all just trash talk.
It doesn't help that its a lawyer doing the trash talking either, it seems all too common for people with law-centric world views to be completely out of sync with a world that operates on the principles of physics.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
Microsoft Windows et al IS the botnet.
rewriting history since 2109
Personally, I think that the fact that it's coming from a lawyer makes it more convincing (and frightening). Note that he's saying you need to get legally creative. That sounds like not-so-subtle code for no-knock raids and extraordinary rendition. I don't care how well written your malware is. It's not gonna help you one bit if when a multibillion dollar corporation convinces the Russian police to disappear you and your buddies.
That's not true. I'm no Microsoft apologist (I run OpenBSD and Linux) but Microsoft has some of the smartest people out there. The problem is, those people are neatly compartmentalized, in the form of Microsoft Research. Much of their work is highly regarded in the compsci community. But Microsoft-the-software-company often fails to see the potential of their work. I suspect that Microsoft's "don't rock the boat" approach is an official business strategy.