Mailing itself to recipients extracted from the victim's machine
Copying itself over network shares (mapped drives)
Sharing itself over the KaZaa P2P network
Sending itself via IRC
But wait! Theres MORE! It has its own SMTP engine. It attempts to halt anti-virus processes. It alters the registry AND THEN it even disables the ability to edit the registry!
Quite a nasty beasty really. And even for us nice safe Linux/BSD users there are issues. Clogged mailboxes are at least, a nuisance, at worse, a huge bandwidth cost. Those on dialup or liimited broadband access where you pay for d/ls and uploads will notice it!
So even those of us cheerfully NOT patching frantically have consequences. The celebrations of yet another MS problem are a bit premature it seems to me. I'd rather see more outrage that such an inherently insecure and easily manipulated OS is costing ALL of us online.
You know what? I LIVE in the real world. I DONT like the standard that windows sets. I LIKE being able to customise my fvwm desktop to suit myself.
What this does is just allow the trained masses to migrate easily. Great. A start, probably. But a leap forward for Linux? Sorry, just dont see it that way. Why do people get excited when another windows clone comes out, and we are supposed to act like its the Holy Grail for Linux?
Having said that, I understand the business rationale of not wanting to retrain its end users, its a productivity issue. But I dont see how I am suddenly in the UNREAL world because i use, and train users, in Linux. I find windows, and its lack of customisation, closed source, and limited administration, to be a bit surreal, personally!
from comments on the fantastic groklaw site,
one of the diligent contributors trawling through the 10Q found this:
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (the "ACCC") has contacted the Company and requested information regarding complaints it has received regarding the Company's intellectual property claims and the Company's statements regarding the need for commercial Linux users to obtain a UNIX license. The Company intends to respond to the ACCC's inquiry. The ACCC has notified the Company that it has not made any decision to pursue the complaints it has received or determined what, if any, action it will take
so, their short term gain is from obtaining funds from linux competitors....and they want more gains from lawsuits. i wonder if they could explain how sustainable a business model this is? no product profit i can see! making money from lawsuits and 'licencing' deals with vested interest parties isnt the way for a company to make money..of course, long term planning doesnt seem to be in the the pump and dump model, dies it?
It was interesting that the various governments are interested in alternatives, in large part, because of the storage of information in proprietory format. This would only be enhanced by the latest proposed MSOffice document format being incompatible with even previous versions.
But the best bit, imho is that the article metnions three groups/professions to benefit most from the move to Open Source:
" large consultancy firms and systems integrators, such as IBM, which will be called in to devise and install alternative products; firms such as Red Hat or SuSE, which sell Linux-based products and services; and numerous small, local technology firms that can tailor open-source products for governmental users.numerous small, local technology firms that can tailor open-source products for governmental users".
Hmm, don't critics of Open Source always say no way to make money from such a 'socialist/communist/root of all evil/hippy' model?
And gee, helping small businesses, especially IT based ones, expand, profit, and employ more people, is HIGH on all government wish lists.
Great to see an intelligent analysis in a respected magazine, too.
as opposed to Microsoft?
How long does it take them to release patches or information?
How often does this affect MS products as opposed to Open Source stuff?
Thats just SILLY:)
In Australia, we have Computerbank, that upplies recycled computers running GNU/Linux to low income schools, individuals and groups. We have worked with East Timor, Fiji and Papua New Guinea, as well as local individuals and groups:)
http://www.computerbank.org.au/
I am coordinator of the Sth Australian Branch - http://sa.computerbank.org.au/
Slashdot Mirror
really just darl mcbride in disguise? or are they both just bill gates?
ever seen all three together in the same room? i thought not!
Oh no, this multi talented worm is:
But wait! Theres MORE! It has its own SMTP engine. It attempts to halt anti-virus processes. It alters the registry AND THEN it even disables the ability to edit the registry!
Quite a nasty beasty really. And even for us nice safe Linux/BSD users there are issues. Clogged mailboxes are at least, a nuisance, at worse, a huge bandwidth cost. Those on dialup or liimited broadband access where you pay for d/ls and uploads will notice it!
So even those of us cheerfully NOT patching frantically have consequences. The celebrations of yet another MS problem are a bit premature it seems to me. I'd rather see more outrage that such an inherently insecure and easily manipulated OS is costing ALL of us online.
You know what? I LIVE in the real world. I DONT like the standard that windows sets. I LIKE being able to customise my fvwm desktop to suit myself.
What this does is just allow the trained masses to migrate easily. Great. A start, probably. But a leap forward for Linux? Sorry, just dont see it that way. Why do people get excited when another windows clone comes out, and we are supposed to act like its the Holy Grail for Linux?
Having said that, I understand the business rationale of not wanting to retrain its end users, its a productivity issue. But I dont see how I am suddenly in the UNREAL world because i use, and train users, in Linux. I find windows, and its lack of customisation, closed source, and limited administration, to be a bit surreal, personally!
why? im one of the biggest mp fans around! (mel brooks too!)
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (the "ACCC") has contacted the Company and requested information regarding complaints it has received regarding the Company's intellectual property claims and the Company's statements regarding the need for commercial Linux users to obtain a UNIX license. The Company intends to respond to the ACCC's inquiry. The ACCC has notified the Company that it has not made any decision to pursue the complaints it has received or determined what, if any, action it will take
as an australian - yay for us:)so, their short term gain is from obtaining funds from linux competitors....and they want more gains from lawsuits. i wonder if they could explain how sustainable a business model this is? no product profit i can see! making money from lawsuits and 'licencing' deals with vested interest parties isnt the way for a company to make money..of course, long term planning doesnt seem to be in the the pump and dump model, dies it?
It was interesting that the various governments are interested in alternatives, in large part, because of the storage of information in proprietory format. This would only be enhanced by the latest proposed MSOffice document format being incompatible with even previous versions. But the best bit, imho is that the article metnions three groups/professions to benefit most from the move to Open Source: " large consultancy firms and systems integrators, such as IBM, which will be called in to devise and install alternative products; firms such as Red Hat or SuSE, which sell Linux-based products and services; and numerous small, local technology firms that can tailor open-source products for governmental users.numerous small, local technology firms that can tailor open-source products for governmental users". Hmm, don't critics of Open Source always say no way to make money from such a 'socialist/communist/root of all evil/hippy' model? And gee, helping small businesses, especially IT based ones, expand, profit, and employ more people, is HIGH on all government wish lists. Great to see an intelligent analysis in a respected magazine, too.
as opposed to Microsoft? How long does it take them to release patches or information? How often does this affect MS products as opposed to Open Source stuff? Thats just SILLY:)
yeah you wouldnt want a Denial of Service!
In Australia, we have Computerbank, that upplies recycled computers running GNU/Linux to low income schools, individuals and groups. We have worked with East Timor, Fiji and Papua New Guinea, as well as local individuals and groups:) http://www.computerbank.org.au/ I am coordinator of the Sth Australian Branch - http://sa.computerbank.org.au/
At Computerbank Australia Inc, we take donated hardware and build Debian Linux boxes for donation to low income, disadvantaged individuals and groups.
http://www.computerbank.org.au/