“The Storm worm first appeared at the beginning of the year… Although it’s most commonly called a worm, Storm is really more: a worm, a Trojan horse and a bot all rolled into one. It’s also the most successful example we have of a new breed of worm, and I’ve seen estimates that between 1 million and 50 million [Windows] computers have been infected worldwide,” Bruce Schneier reports for Wired.
“Worms like Storm are written by hackers looking for profit, and they’re different. These worms spread more subtly, without making noise. Symptoms don’t appear immediately, and an infected computer can sit dormant for a long time. If it were a disease, it would be more like syphilis, whose symptoms may be mild or disappear altogether, but which will eventually come back years later and eat your brain,” Schneier reports.
“Storm has been around for almost a year, and the antivirus companies are pretty much powerless to do anything about it. Inoculating infected machines individually is simply not going to work, and I can’t imagine forcing ISPs to quarantine infected hosts. A quarantine wouldn’t work in any case: Storm’s creators could easily design another worm — and we know that users can’t keep themselves from clicking on enticing attachments and links,” Schneier reports.
“Redesigning the Microsoft Windows operating system would work, but that’s ridiculous to even suggest,” Schneier reports.
“Oddly enough, Storm isn’t doing much, so far, except gathering strength. Aside from continuing to infect other Windows machines and attacking particular sites that are attacking it, Storm has only been implicated in some pump-and-dump stock scams. There are rumors that Storm is leased out to other criminal groups. Other than that, nothing,” Schneier reports. “Personally, I’m worried about what Storm’s creators are planning for Phase II.”
More in the full article here.
“Gathering ‘Storm’ superworm . . .”
What a strange coincidence.
That’s been my nickname since high school.
Your nickname is Superworm? What, are you real skinny?
Some parts are. Some parts aren’t. That’s the beauty.
Great news for us safe and secure mac users.
Only idiots use windows these days.
*sets up lawn chair sits back and waits for the fireworks…
It would be nice to be smug about all this. We can feel happy we’re on Macs. But if someone wants to do something evil with this, that’s not comforting. For example, what if the creators of this sell access not to organized crime but to a certain organization of radical fundamentalist religious zealots with murky roots in the mountains along the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan? We depend on PCs for so much today. While it is sad that we are so dependent, it’s also chilling what could happen if all of them went down. Hard.
The only salvation I can consider is that increasingly, people are buying and using Macs.
Worm farming can be quite peacefull…..
“Redesigning the Microsoft Windows operating system would work, but that’s ridiculous to even suggest,’ Schneier reports.”
Logic and greed are strange bedfellows. Ballmer has enough on his plate already. Like half of Seattle’s pork products.
“Because they know all they sold ya was a guaranteed piece of shit. That’s all it is, isn’t it? Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for now, for your customer’s sake, for your daughter’s sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality product from me.”
– Tommy Callahan
Mac users could still get SPAM from these Windows boxes so it is still a hassle for us. I just started getting spam today as a result of this on my work PC. The sender’s email address has a coworkers email address or a client’s email address. When I went to block the email I found this out and now I’m not sure how to block this spam.
Note to Zune Tang:
The “Cure” can be found — Over Here
What say you ?
Has there ever been a case where a virus infected user sued Microsoft for their incompetence regarding OS security?
How come people sue Apple for reducing the iPhone price by $200 when companies are losing millions if not billions because of Windows’ poor security?
Are people mad? Where has the world come to?
The Storm worm is Microsoft fault. They should compensate infected users. Bill should give at least half (MDN Magic word BTW) his wealth in order to pay for these damages.
“We depend on PCs for so much today. While it is sad that we are so dependent, it’s also chilling what could happen if all of them went down. Hard “
Thats when Apple will release Mac OSX for PC’s, and Steve will get the Noble Peace prize
I’m wondering myself if this is responsible for all the ridiculous spam these days, all the ‘penis enlargement’ come-ons. If my penis were any larger, it would need its own zip code!
@Don’t laugh:
What’s to stop the hackers from selling it to some radical fundamentalist Christian group in Texas that’s working to bring about “The Rapture” so they can all get beamed up and chill with the sky fairy. America has it’s own version of the Taliban, otherwise known as “The Base” of the Republican party.
Thats when Apple will release Mac OSX for PC’s, and Steve will get the Noble Peace prize . .. . . .
You just foresaw “one last thing…..” 2012
@crystal ball I agree with your crystal ball
but could see it happen before if something bad happened, it might come sooner at the request “requisition” of powers to be
All of Gates’ wealth is the result of criminal enterprise, he should give it back to the taxpayers of the world and go to prison.
All of the US TLAs have backdoors in Windows for them, this is much of the problem, the ‘bad’ guys find them, except how can we be sure who are the ‘good’ guys? Search: – “operation northwoods”, – “operation gladio” -, – “smedley butler”.
There are more religious zealouts in the US than most anywhere in the world, lots of them in government too, try this search – christian university robertson “white house” -. There are lots of peope (religious nutters) working for armaggedon to happen sooner so that they can experience ‘the rapture’ in their lifetime, search for – “end times” – and get past the smiley PR. Guess what, they blame it all on some guys they bomb and deliberately miss, surround except for an escape route, allow to fly out of US when all other air traffic is banned. It really is difficult to tell who are the good guys and who are the bad guys, the really bad guys are very good at it, and at persuading you that they are really the good guys.
Confused? – you should be. Funny it is how people get upset over losing a few dollars but when some freedom is lost they don’t even notice. One of the most valuable things in life is freedom, do something to look after yours. For Windows users getting a Mac is a tiny step in the right direction.
No doubt this comment will disappear quickly, copy and save – while you can. Defend your freedom, that which you have, while you can. Watch this movie, by an award winning hollywood director, free on the interweb tubes, “America: Freedom to Fascism”.
How much do they charge for them tinfoil hats?
MDN word: after, as in “They’re after me!”
“I’ve seen estimates that between 1 million and 50 million [Windows] computers have been infected”
LOL. What kind of “estimates” have a range that’s a factor of 50? That’s not an estimate, it’s a wild guess. And not even a precise enough one to win you that jar of M&Ms;… (mmmm, 50 million M&Ms;… droool…)
“Symptoms don’t appear immediately…….If it were a disease, it would be more like syphilis”
Uhhhhh, yeah. That big nasty lookin’ ulcer on your schwance is a hard to miss symptom.
Non-medical people should not write medical articles just like non-tech people should not write tech articles.
Cubert
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(And, yes, people for the last time – I am a doctor and don’t just play one on TV)
Does this worm affect the super secure Vista OS or just XP?
@Guess Poser
I guess MDN scares you a bunch too!
ROTFLMAO.
The problem is not necessarily the fact that people click on bad links. Everyone has been fooled at some point. The problem is an inherently insecure OS. Also, all it takes is a few people clicking on bad links, then the worm spreads automatically through a network, even infecting self-proclaimed “smart” Windows users. The solution is not making everyone smarter, it’s making the tools everyone uses smarter. Perhaps though, the best solution is to do both.
I would have no problem with Windows if it was fast, secure, innovative, etc. Maybe after this Vista debacle, and the growing amount of ingenious malicious code written to take advantage of Windows, MS will finally have initiative to take its resources and put them into a new project. But unfortunately probably not…
Don’t Laugh says “For example, what if the creators of this sell access not to organized crime but to a certain organization of radical fundamentalist religious zealots with murky roots in the mountains along the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan?”
OK so the devil is only in those hills… not!
I think George Carlin said it best…
“Certain groups of people, certain groups, Muslim fundamentalists, Christian fundamentalists, Jewish fundamentalists, and just plain guys from Montana, are going to continue to make life in this country very interesting for a long, long time.”
I hope to god you can see a connection here
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I prefer minnows