Worm Infects Computers Worldwide

[IsraelForever]

NYTimes 1/22/09

From: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/technology/internet/23worm.html?hp


A new digital plague has hit the Internet, infecting millions of personal and business computers in what seems to be the first step of a multistage attack. The world’s leading computer security experts do not yet know who programmed the infection, or what the next stage will be.

In recent weeks a worm, a malicious software program, has swept through corporate, educational and public computer networks around the world. Known as Conficker or Downadup, it is spread by a recently discovered Microsoft Windows vulnerability, by guessing network passwords and by hand-carried consumer gadgets like USB keys.

Experts say it is the worst infection since the Slammer worm exploded through the Internet in January 2003, and it may have infected as many as nine million personal computers around the world.

Worms like Conficker not only ricochet around the Internet at lightning speed, they harness infected computers into unified systems called botnets, which can then accept programming instructions from their clandestine masters. “If you’re looking for a digital Pearl Harbor, we now have the Japanese ships steaming toward us on the horizon,” said Rick Wesson, chief executive of Support Intelligence, a computer security consulting firm based in San Francisco.

Many computer users may not notice that their machines have been infected, and computer security researchers said they were waiting for the instructions to materialize, to determine what impact the botnet will have on PC users. It might operate in the background, using the infected computer to send spam or infect other computers, or it might steal the PC user’s personal information.

“I don’t know why people aren’t more afraid of these programs,” said Merrick L. Furst, a computer scientist at Georgia Tech. “This is like having a mole in your organization that can do things like send out any information it finds on machines it infects.”
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Call me crazy, but I think these hackers should either be put to death or be put in prison for 30 years.  What's sad is that the hackers could be 15 years old.

[muman613]

My Linux systems have been worm and virus free for over eight years... Windows is such a great target for all hackers.

[IsraelForever]

I've heard that about Windows.  I've heard that the Mac doesn't have such problems.  Is that because the Mac isn't as popular as Windows?  Or is there something inherent in the Mac whereby it won't allow viruses and worms to infect it?  I've also heard that Linux is the best.

[t_h_j]

My Linux systems have been worm and virus free for over eight years... Windows is such a great target for all hackers.

if linux had the same market share as windows, they would have all the same problems.

[IsraelForever]

Aha!  So that explains it then.  And that's what I thought might be the answer.  (Not that I carry any brief for Windows, I don't.)

[muman613]

My Linux systems have been worm and virus free for over eight years... Windows is such a great target for all hackers.

if linux had the same market share as windows, they would have all the same problems.

I seriously doubt that. You are aware, t_h_j that Linux is Open Source and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of software engineers who contribute and code review the releases. If a worm or virus shows up it is usually squashed in days, if not hours, compared to the very slow response time of Microsoft which sometimes takes months if not years to resolve known exploitable bugs.

You should learn a little bit about Linux before commenting. I run servers and have thousands of hits a day and nobody has every taken down my website. I have uptimes of years on some of my machines.

[t_h_j]

My Linux systems have been worm and virus free for over eight years... Windows is such a great target for all hackers.

if linux had the same market share as windows, they would have all the same problems.

I seriously doubt that. You are aware, t_h_j that Linux is Open Source and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of software engineers who contribute and code review the releases. If a worm or virus shows up it is usually squashed in days, if not hours, compared to the very slow response time of Microsoft which sometimes takes months if not years to resolve known exploitable bugs.

You should learn a little bit about Linux before commenting. I run servers and have thousands of hits a day and nobody has every taken down my website. I have uptimes of years on some of my machines.

So your saying that there would be no serious problem with Linux if the same amount of people who focus on making worms and the for windows started to make them for Linux?

[IsraelForever]

Very interesting, mumam613.  I knew a long time ago that Linux was "open source", which, I read, accounted for Linux being so adaptable; i.e., any programmer in the world can look at the code and help out.  I also was told a long time ago that we would all be better off using Linux.  Of course, marketing has so much to do with this kind of thing, and Microsoft, I guess, was the best at it.  

Also, I think hackers want to cause the most damage possible; therefore, inflicting damage on the most-used system (i.e., Windows) would cause the most damage.  If they wrote viruses for Linux, the damage wouldn't be as great.  [This is just my conjecture on this point.]

[muman613]

Very interesting, mumam613.  I knew a long time ago that Linux was "open source", which, I read, accounted for Linux being so adaptable; i.e., any programmer in the world can look at the code and help out.  I also was told a long time ago that we would all be better off using Linux.  Of course, marketing has so much to do with this kind of thing, and Microsoft, I guess, was the best at it.  

Also, I think hackers want to cause the most damage possible; therefore, inflicting damage on the most-used system (i.e., Windows) would cause the most damage.  If they wrote viruses for Linux, the damage wouldn't be as great.  [This is just my conjecture on this point.]

It is true that most financial applications are run in Windows. Also there are more video games written for Windows platform than for Linux. The hackers are targeting the largest audience and it is truly a Windows dominant world.

I quit using Windows about six years ago. I am lucky to work at a company where the majority of development is on Linux OS. We make a chip which runs in an embedded Linux environment.

[IsraelForever]

The Mac seems to be safe from viruses.  Is that because the Mac is not as widely used as Windows or is it because it, too, is open source?  I don't ever recall reading that the Mac was open source.  So, if you know, and if there is a reason, what is the reason why Mac users feel confident in never receiving viruses or worms?

[muman613]

The Mac seems to be safe from viruses.  Is that because the Mac is not as widely used as Windows or is it because it, too, is open source?  I don't ever recall reading that the Mac was open source.  So, if you know, and if there is a reason, what is the reason why Mac users feel confident in never receiving viruses or worms?

I have not used Macs in many years. I would think it is because it is based on Linux, and Linux is open source. Patches from the BSD Linux core can be applied to Apple OS X. It is mostly because its userbase is much smaller than the Windows user base. Also Mac users are mainly artists and writers not financial applications. This is my opinion.

[The One and Only Mo]

LOL I posted something similar like 24 hours ago....

[HiWarp]

My Linux systems have been worm and virus free for over eight years... Windows is such a great target for all hackers.

if linux had the same market share as windows, they would have all the same problems.

I seriously doubt that. You are aware, t_h_j that Linux is Open Source and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of software engineers who contribute and code review the releases. If a worm or virus shows up it is usually squashed in days, if not hours, compared to the very slow response time of Microsoft which sometimes takes months if not years to resolve known exploitable bugs.

You should learn a little bit about Linux before commenting. I run servers and have thousands of hits a day and nobody has every taken down my website. I have uptimes of years on some of my machines.

I am certainly not a Microsoft proponent and believe that Linux is superior not only from a security perspective but reliability as well but, in all fairness, the majority of security issues that Windows suffers does not come from Microsoft not patching it's OS but from users not applying existing patches.  How many people who run Windows see that "updates are waiting to be installed" message at the bottom right of their screen and constantly ignore it?  Come on, fess up.

Notice this line from the article:

"Microsoft rushed an emergency patch to defend the Windows operating systems against this vulnerability in October, yet the worm has continued to spread even as the level of warnings has grown in recent weeks."

[muman613]

My Linux systems have been worm and virus free for over eight years... Windows is such a great target for all hackers.

if linux had the same market share as windows, they would have all the same problems.

I seriously doubt that. You are aware, t_h_j that Linux is Open Source and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of software engineers who contribute and code review the releases. If a worm or virus shows up it is usually squashed in days, if not hours, compared to the very slow response time of Microsoft which sometimes takes months if not years to resolve known exploitable bugs.

You should learn a little bit about Linux before commenting. I run servers and have thousands of hits a day and nobody has every taken down my website. I have uptimes of years on some of my machines.

I am certainly not a Microsoft proponent and believe that Linux is superior not only from a security perspective but reliability as well but, in all fairness, the majority of security issues that Windows suffers does not come from Microsoft not patching it's OS but from users not applying existing patches.  How many people who run Windows see that "updates are waiting to be installed" message at the bottom right of their screen and constantly ignore it?  Come on, fess up.

Notice this line from the article:

"Microsoft rushed an emergency patch to defend the Windows operating systems against this vulnerability in October, yet the worm has continued to spread even as the level of warnings has grown in recent weeks."

Maybe so but it is very true that Microsoft has let some bugs, some very serious ones, sit unresolved in hopes that nobody will exploit them. Microsoft is notorious for very slow response time to resolve serious security issues. This, coupled with the fact that users often don't install upgrades, makes Windows a perfect target for hackers.

http://www.msversus.org/microsoft-versus-open-source-software-bugs.html