“Two men have been arrested by local authorities in Turkey and Morocco, and charged with creating and distributing the Zotob and Mytob worms, as well as Rbot bot worm, the FBI announced Friday in a conference call with news media. Farid Essebar, 18, a Moroccan national born in Russia and known by the moniker ‘Diabl0,’ was arrested by Moroccan authorities, while Atilla Ekici, aka ‘Coder,’ a 21-year old resident of Turkey, was grabbed by Turkish police,” Gregg Keizer reports for TechWeb News.
“The two are believed to be behind the Zotob attacks that began last week, quickly infected thousands of machines worldwide, and brought down some corporate and media networks running vulnerable Windows 2000 PCs. They are also suspected of being behind Mytob, which harks back to February 2005, and Rbot, an IRC-controlled bot which debuted in August 2004,” Keizer reports. “The FBI’s investigation doesn’t go back that far, but it did begin long before the Zotob outbreak, said Louis Reigel, the assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division. ‘We started our initial investigation [of Mytob] in late March, but it became very aggressive in the last two weeks,’ Reigel said. ‘The arrests were made from a trail that came to light in the last two weeks [since Zotob],’ confirmed Brad Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel, who also participated in the call.”
Keizer reports that Smith “also defended his company, which is frequently lambasted for its many security problems, by claiming, as have other officials, that the root cause for the attack isn’t necessarily Microsoft’s fault, but is due to the overwhelming popularity of its products. ‘We have very popular products, and so we’re put under this kind of pressure,’ said Smith. ‘But security remains our highest priority.'”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Alternate headline: “Microsoft lackey states ‘security remains our highest priority’ – idiots lap it up.” If you believe Microsoft’s highest priority is “security,” you’ve undergone a lobotomy. Sorry to remind you, you probably forgot. It’s okay, you’ll forget it again right about… now. Enjoy Windows Vista when and if, ‘kay? The rest of us, the ones with newly blown up bullshit detectors, know that Microsoft’s highest priority is “money.”
Microsoft’s security problems aren’t due to popularity, they’re due to insufficiently designed security safeguards in their operating system. In other words, Microsoft Windows’ security, among other things, sucks.
A cynic might wonder how quickly Usama Bin Laden would’ve been captured had he threatened Microsoft’s pursuit of the almighty dollar (after all, Bin Laden has been on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitive’s List for years). Other, more positive people, probably wouldn’t have niggling thoughts like that popping into their heads. So, congrats to the FBI for nabbing these two nefarious hackers! A job well done.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Windows worm halts production at 13 DaimlerChrysler U.S. plants – August 26, 2005
Zotob Windows worm knocks out North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles – August 24, 2005
How to avoid viruses and malware? Dump your Windows PC and get an Apple Macintosh – August 22, 2005
ZDNet: How many Mac OS X users affected by the last 100 viruses? None, zero, not one, not ever – August 18, 2005
Quickly spreading Microsoft Windows worm affects CNN, ABC, NY Times; Apple Macintosh unaffected – August 16, 2005
‘Zotob’ worm rapidly infects Microsoft Windows; Macintosh unaffected – August 15, 2005
SecurityFocus: ‘Your Windows computer is not to be trusted; buy a Mac and slip under the radar’ – July 06, 2005
Maybe M$ is going to start putting all of these hackers into their own prison camp with nothing more than food, water & Apple computers!!!
MW=military!
I thought it was Osama. Can you spell it two ways, or has the media just been wrong all this time?
Always the trend of the Muslim – destruction in the name of an unknowable entity…
Zotob, Mytob, Hertob, Yourtob — let’s call the whole thing off!
Seriously, that’s what we should do — call off this horrible, overlong, god-awwful, costly experiment known as “Windows from Microsoft.”
It’s too bad that no one anywhere has the stones to sue those bastards in Redmond. Inflicting such crap on the American (and world) public for such an incredibly long time. I swear — the amount of progress that’s been lost worldwide as a result of the increased support costs, increased downtime, lost man-hours, etc., from Windows will probably end up rivaling the great loss of the knowledge from the burning of the library of Alexandria when we look back on it and can assess it accurately. ‘Course, scientists estimate that travesty only set us back about a thousand years as a civilization, so . . . this MS shit could end up being small potatoes comparatively-speaking.
Maybe the ACLU should be called in to bring suit against Microsoft. They’re more than happy to defend everybody else.
Since they are arresting people, might as well throw some of those MS engineers in jail. While you’re at it, snag old Sir Billy Boy Gates.
macnut222,
Click the link. How does the FBI spell it?
Maybe that’s why they can’t find him – wrong name.
“Always the trend of the Muslim – destruction in the name of an unknowable entity…”
Don’t be ignorant. Christians and others have done the same in the past.
“Click the link. How does the FBI spell it?”
I noticed that. How come the media still gets it wrong? It baffles me.
“Maybe that’s why they can’t find him – wrong name.”
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”LOL” style=”border:0;” />
I think we should invade these countries that let their people wreak havoc in the windows world. I’m calling W. and Rummy, stat.
Cant find Bin Ladin because of one of two things, he is either dead in some cave or being hidden by the Iranian Gov’t
Macnut –
You’ve completely missed the point. History has shown that Muslim’s ALWAYS use force as a means of getting their way.
This is completely opposite of Christianity.
apaterso,
I think latest thinking is the bin Laden has taken refuge in a Pakistani religious complex. You can’t exactly go raiding there indiscriminantly…
…root cause for the attack isn’t necessarily Microsoft’s fault, but is due to the overwhelming popularity of its products.
GM makes popular vehicles, but nobody goes around parking lots putting car bombs in Chevy Suburbans…
Face it, the worm writers are targeting you BECAUSE THEY CAN!!! You leave huge holes in an operating system that hasn’t been materially improved in the last 15 years, and it’s NOT YOUR FAULT??!!
Someone get Mark Lanier on the phone…
Oh really The MacDaddy-Oh!, then the three crusades were just the pope popping over to jerusalem for a spot of tea? No, the pope used religion as a cover for conquest, and the normal citizens of europe went along with it. What the pope really didn’t care about was that the average european soldier was under-paid, under-sexed, and quite unfriendly. So they LITERALLY raped and pillaged the jerusalem and it’s surrounding provinces. The three crusades did more damage to the area’s history and culture than has ever been done.
I AM NOT DEFENDING TERRORIST ACTIONS (just wanted to clear that up) I despise all preemptive strikes, the war in Afghanistan was justified, the war in Iraq was not.
The MacDaddy-Oh!,
Let’s not forget the Spanish Inquisition. Forced Christianity? Ethnic cleansing by the Catholic Church?
Wonder what the Quoran and the Muslim holyboys have to say about computers worms, viruses…
Usama? Osama? That’s always the problem transleterating a name from a different language, especially one that does not use the western alphabet.
Consider the change of Peking to Beijing. Bombay to Mumbai. Knowing some Chinese language, Beijing is closer to the proper local pronunciation.
I have seen cases in Taiwan of multiple signs on the expressway pointing to a destination having numerous western transliterations, but only one Chinese “spelling”.
These transliterations are hard!
MW = “peace”
The two biggest security holes in Windows, hidden extensions and ActiveX are still the default even in XPsp2. Until the most obvious holes are fixed I will never believe that M$ gives a rats ass about security.
You would think that with the US Legal system being what it is and suing people for cash in being almost a legitimate form of employment, someone would have started a class action suit against Microsoft for criminal negligence in delivering a product with swiss cheese for security by now.
Give Us Your Thoughts on Windows
Be included in an upcoming issue of PC Magazine!
We’re looking for readers to tell us what they think of Windows, past and present, and what they’d like to see in future versions. Your quote, and your photo, may appear in an upcoming issue. Just answer one or all of the following questions:
• For long-time Windows users, what was the first version you worked with, and what were your first impressions of it?
• How did you come upon Windows for the first time? At work? At a friend’s house? What surprised you or disappointed you about it?
• Do you use Windows in any unusual or unique ways?
• What do you think of Windows’ world dominance?
• If you could change one thing about Windows XP, what would it be?
• What would you like to see in future versions of Windows?
Send your thoughts to pcmonline@ziffdavis.com!
Please use “Thoughts on Windows” as your subject line.
Make sure you give them your thoughts on Windows!!!
For all those who are curious, I am NOT a windows fan. My response to the article would be that windows is a piece of crap. I just thought that MDN would be a good place to post the article to get the best response from Mac users.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
hehe I just sent this:
• For long-time Windows users, what was the first version you worked with, and what were your first impressions of it?
I used Windows 95 and thought it was a poor copy of Mac OS. It crashed at least 5 times a day.
• How did you come upon Windows for the first time? At work? At a friend’s house? What surprised you or disappointed you about it?
I used it at work. It was forced upon me, because it was ‘cheaper’ than a Mac. What surprised me is that this OS had got through development and been declared Golden Master because, like I say above, it crashed at least 5 times a day, usually all by itself. Incredible.
What disappointed me (and still does) is the completely awful UI. The ‘Start’ button is without doubt one of the worst pieces of UI design ever. I have to press ‘Start’ to turn a PC off?
• Do you use Windows in any unusual or unique ways?
No. But I think anybody who chooses to use Windows is unusual.
• What do you think of Windows’ world dominance?
I think they are the same as McDonalds. They might be the biggest, but they are by no means the best. Junk computing, like junk food. It’s no good for you but people can’t seem to get enough.
• If you could change one thing about Windows XP, what would it be?
That it was never ‘invented’ (for invented, read ‘copied’). Or I would like it changed so it worked intuitively. But seeing who’s in charge at Redmond these days, I sincerely doubt that will happen anytime soon.
• What would you like to see in future versions of Windows?
An OS that is secure by default, that doesn’t have a cartoon paper clip asking if you want help writing a letter, that is immune to viruses, that can run 24/7 for months without a reboot, that doesn’t require a driver for everything you plug in (“Windows is now installing your mouse”), that doesn’t have “Wizards” for every god damn thing you try and install, that installs an application into one folder and doesn’t crop spray your hard drive with files and folders everywhere, that doesn’t have a weak as pi55 registry syste (the fundamental flaw for Windows – ALL VERSIONS), that can Sleep & Wake instantly, that is unique and original, and has features not seen in other OS’s.
Not much to ask, but probably impossible from Microsoft.
Correction. Microsoft’s #1 priority is POWER.
• What would you like to see in future versions of Windows?
An OS that is secure by default, that doesn’t have a cartoon paper clip asking if you want help writing a letter, that is immune to viruses, that can run 24/7 for months without a reboot, that doesn’t require a driver for everything you plug in (“Windows is now installing your mouse”), that doesn’t have “Wizards” for every god damn thing you try and install, that installs an application into one folder and doesn’t crop spray your hard drive with files and folders everywhere, that doesn’t have a weak as pi55 registry syste (the fundamental flaw for Windows – ALL VERSIONS), that can Sleep & Wake instantly, that is unique and original, and has features not seen in other OS’s.
OR one can get Tiger NOW rather than in some distant future. It has all the above and more.