Time to stop creating viruses

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Originally posted by bromide
??????????

a person is going to walk up to bill gates front door, say 'hey, i have no credentials or anything, but i have a fix for your software- yah big dumb goof you left a hole right here! now pay me.'

these hackers dont work for microsoft nor would they probably be able to be hired by them. they wouldnt benefit off making a fix, so they would rather wreck havok.

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I'm going to have to say that what you say makes absolutely no sense at all. First of all, if the hacker is good enough to be the first to discover a security hole then I see no reason why Microsoft wouldn't WANT to hire him/her. They're obviously one of the best security experts out there and could start imporoving the OS right away.

And second, why does the person need to create an exploit for the secuirty hole and distribute it to make the problem go away? Microsoft fixed the RPC vulnerability weeks before Blaster hit. Microsoft has absolutely no motive for ignoring any possible vulnerability so why would they ignore the helpful hint from the hacker?

Two of my computers at work here got hit by virii, I've been in a stressful hell all week trying to fix it. It is now friday and I just got my main computer back up, and the other one is still acting weird. IMHO, all virus writers should skinned and drained of blood until they die. Or possibly get the plague or a really bad flu, maybe an in-grown toe nail for good measure. Just so long as they suffer.

And for the little pimply faced a$$ monkey who made the virus that infected my work's system, I've got a special torment for you.. drop by sometime and I'll demonstrate.

:mad:

There is only one good virus writer... and he's decomposing.

My wife's computer was slammed with a virus. Caused real headaches for her and me. I agree with Collossus. ANYBODY who thinks virus writers are "helping" us needs some serious couch time with a shrink!

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Originally posted by Colossus
Yes but they can email MS with the problem they had discovered!!!!

And if MS does Drop the ball and ignore the email.. Someone else will create the virus.. So that guy would not be in trouble...

Just because the exploit is there.. Doesnt mean you take advantage of it!!!!

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i am not saying they should...i am just looking at it from their perspective...microsoft is not going to hire them just because they found one little loop hole....and i am sure that these people are not working hard to find the loopholes so that they can notify microsoft and go unnoticed. they probably are doing it to get attention and do something they think is 'grand' which in a way it is- just not a good 'grand'.

i am misunderstood, i am not supporting these virus creators, just trying to point out that i am sure they are not volunteer microsoft workers.

The only respect I have for Virus Makers is similar to the respect I have for Hackers/Crackers...

Is that they are talented at what they do... But more then often use it for the wrong purpose...

Yes companies high Security experts to hack into their setup.. But they were given permission to do so...

I dont know about you but lets weigh the options :D

A. Find loophole, develop virus, get caught sooner or later.. Jail time...

B. Find loophole, work with MS by informing them of the problem (probably wont get paid for it), Life at home...

I dont know its a hard choice for me to make!! Do I want A or B :D

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Originally posted by Colossus

I dont know about you but lets weigh the options :D

A. Find loophole, develop virus, get caught sooner or later.. Jail time...

B. Find loophole, work with MS by informing them of the problem (probably wont get paid for it), Life at home...

I dont know its a hard choice for me to make!! Do I want A or B :D

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clever qute and sarcastic...just how i like it.

lets put it this way-

you personally- would you go out spend hours upon hours of your time to find a loop hole and just show microsoft expecting nothing in return, when you could be doing other things.

-OR-

would you NOT waste your time searching for these loop holes, and still be free, since you cant be punished for not trying to find ways that microsoft has messed up.

I would probably not waste my time :D

But if he did waste his time, what do they exspect to get?

What develop the virus to take advantage of a loophole and have what Microsoft say "Oh wow, We didnt see that... Here is $6000"

Yeah uh huh... What can any possible outcome for creating a virus other then being caught and prosecuted?

In the long run, virus writing are forcing security technology to progress. Progress would be at a stand still without any needs. Many times these needs are a result of safety and security but the end product produced benefits us in other ways as well. If it wasn't for WWII and the Cold War, we probably wouldn't have satellites and nuclear power plants and even a space program. WWII and the Cold War acted as an incentive for scientists to develop new technologies.

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Originally posted by AMD_Man
In the long run, virus writing are forcing security technology to progress. Progress would be at a stand still without any needs. Many times these needs are a result of safety and security but the end product produced benefits us in other ways as well. If it wasn't for WWII and the Cold War, we probably wouldn't have satellites and nuclear power plants and even a space program. WWII and the Cold War acted as an incentive for scientists to develop new technologies.

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That is just 100% BS...

Virus does not help promote anything! Like what was already mentioned there was already a patch for the MSBlast virus before it was released...

Also most virus will do nothing but damaged the data on the HD... Which still hasnt resolved to promote anything, The only thing it did was allow the antivirus makers create a detection of it.. But not fix it.. Such as my favorite virus.. The Form C bootsector virus...

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Originally posted by Colossus

That is just 100% BS...

Virus does not help promote anything! Like what was already mentioned there was already a patch for the MSBlast virus before it was released...

Also most virus will do nothing but damaged the data on the HD... Which still hasnt resolved to promote anything, The only thing it did was allow the antivirus makers create a detection of it.. But not fix it.. Such as my favorite virus.. The Form C bootsector virus...

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Virus: A program or code that replicates; that is, infects another program, boot sector, partition sector, or document that supports macros, by inserting itself or attaching itself to that medium. Most viruses only replicate, though, many do a large amount of damage as well.

Worm: A program that makes copies of itself; for example, from one disk drive to another, or by copying itself using email or another transport mechanism. The worm may do damage and compromise the security of the computer. It may arrive in the form of a joke program or software of some sort.

MSBLAST was a worm, not a virus. ...And in a way it did do a good thing, it forced people to update Windows. A worm could have been written that would erase the windows directory and spread the same way though the RPC exploit. We were all very lucky that MSBLAST didn’t do just that.

Come on use those brain cells!!!!

A virus is a generic name given to any malicious code... Either it be MSBlaster, or one of the other 40 million known...

I read somewhere, (either from fark or slashdot or somewhere I can't remember), there saying that the blaster worm/variants are what caused/aided the big blackout in North america, luckily nothing really evil occured, but you can see that this stuff isn't just something to be taken lightly.

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Originally posted by PikachuMan
I read somewhere, (either from fark or slashdot or somewhere I can't remember), there saying that the blaster worm/variants are what caused/aided the big blackout in North america, luckily nothing really evil occured, but you can see that this stuff isn't just something to be taken lightly.

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And security shouldn't be taken lightly either. The admins that got hit got what they deserved and the writer will get what he deserves. I have no sympathy for slacking admins. The one thing I've never been able to understand is why the writers don't do actual damage. They know they're going to jail. Mise well make it for actually doing something. I just get sick of having to deal with what the crap causes even though I run all linux and the company I work for uses almost all linux. This is probably just my despise for windows and MCSE admins with no clue speaking.

most of these guys get hired by symantec anyway

I think people release virii in hopes of making up for getting beat up on when they were younger. The whole thought of making a virus, and then releasing it to infect people you don't even know is plain dumb. I could see someone giving someone they know and dislike a virus maybe...

People releasing virii are not doing anyone a favor, that's got to be one of the most rediculous things I've heard. That's like saying terrorists do us a favor when they bomb or shoot someone. They're exposing a security hole for us to learn from. Just stupid.

This brilliant idea just dawned on me. When someone finds a security hole why not INFORM someone of it in a non-intrusive manner?