guy arrested dealing with blaster worm :D

DrOzz · 08-29-2003, 03:46 PM

i am watching tv right now and there have a press conference pertaining to a guy that was a key significant player in the worm "Blaster", he is now under house arrest and he is an 18 year old male from minneapolous (seattle in other words

) i dont' know how to spell that word....

Blinker_Fluid · 08-29-2003, 03:51 PM

You mean Minneapolis? Like as in Minnesota...?

DrOzz · 08-29-2003, 03:54 PM

well this is the thing, yes i mean minneapolis, cause thats where he is being detained, but he is from seattle, does that make more sense

and little update, he may get charged up to $250,000(US) and up to 10 years in prison...

flapjackboy · 08-29-2003, 03:56 PM

May his testicles be wired to electrodes linked to a website with a button that everyone affected by his virus can click to send jolts of high voltave electricity through them...

MasterC · 08-29-2003, 03:57 PM

Seattle people are lunatics

They should all relax, like we do up here on Whidbey Island

Hey, taz.devil was from Seattle... Taz.Devil, if you stop by and happen to see this thread, give us a nod to let us know it's not you

Cool

Blinker_Fluid · 08-29-2003, 04:02 PM

Linkage!
http://www.thewgalchannel.com/news/2442276/detail.html

Quote:

WASHINGTON -- A Minnesota teenager accused of spreading a worldwide computer virus has been released pending a trial.

Known online as "teekid," Jeffrey Parson, 18, was arrested Friday for unleashing the "Blaster" infection on the Internet weeks ago.

Making his first court appearance Friday, Parson told the judge in St. Paul that he understood the charges against him. He did not enter a plea.
Court papers show Parson admitted creating a modified version of the "Blaster" viruslike computer infection. The FBI said in court documents that Parson's software infected at least 7,000 computers.

A witness reportedly saw the teen testing the infection and called authorities.

Parson was assigned a public defender after telling the judge he had no income, no assets and only $3 in a savings account.

The 6-foot-4-inch tall, 320-pound high school senior wore a T-shirt that read "Big Daddy" on the front and "Big and Bad" on the back. Parson's parents sat in the back row of the courtroom and declined to comment afterward.

Parson's next hearing is scheduled for Sept. 17 in Seattle, where the case was being investigated.

Court papers show FBI and Secret Service agents searched his Hopkins, Minn., home earlier this month and are analyzing seven computers taken from there.

Collectively, different versions of the worm, also called "LovSan," snarled corporate computer networks worldwide. It forced Maryland's motor vehicle agency to close for a day, and it frustrated home computer users.

Symantec, a leading antivirus vendor, said the worm and its variants are estimated to have infected more than 500,000 computers worldwide. Experts consider it one of the worst outbreaks this year.

Mathieu · 08-29-2003, 05:12 PM

Quote from flapjackboy

Quote:

May his testicles be wired to electrodes linked to a website with a button that everyone affected by his virus can click to send jolts of high voltave electricity through them...

Why ?
If Microsoft created secure software in the first place, this worm (and others) would have never existed.

Quote:

Security experts say the infection exploited an unusually dangerous flaw in Windows software.

The infection left a note behind on vulnerable computers that read "I just want to say LOVE YOU SAN!" A second message taunting Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates stated "billy gates why do you make this possible? Stop making money and fix your software!"

http://www.thewgalchannel.com/techno...14/detail.html

swiftnet · 08-29-2003, 05:27 PM

This guy was a script kiddie - he was modifying blaster,he didn't write it. Blaster, SoBig, etc all help me sell more Linux systems. I don't like or support viruses ot their authors, but as said previously, M$ software has too many exploitable holes, that could have been fixed with a little forthought on M$ part. Running as administrator all the time is just plain crazy! Windows doesn't work well any other way. So to run Windows you need to be administrator - bad, just plain bad.

kev82 · 08-29-2003, 05:49 PM

Quote:

M$ software has too many exploitable holes, that could have been fixed with a little forthought on M$ part.

they were fixed before the virus started spreading but nobody had much interest in downloading the patches, thats just human nature i guess.

as for this guy, it sounds as he was a script kiddie who just altered a few text fields, i think people like that are a waste of space. i do however have great respect for the people who write viruses, i have played with some simple self modifying code and some of these viruses are real masterpieces. i dont agree with any sort of payoad though and i think most of the people who release viruses in public are just script kiddies who just copy code theyve found on the net.

swiftnet · 08-29-2003, 06:03 PM

Yes the patch was available and I as an outsourced IT guy patched over 20 companies well in advance of the blaster code. All of my clients were spared the headaches of the blaster attack, but the exploit should not have been there in the first place! Running a system as administrator, allowing any executable to execute is wrong and a bad practice. A default install of WIndows does just that. M$ should send out CD's to all registered users when they screw up this big. They have the money, they charge for the swiss cheese OS, so they should send a CD with patches to all of their customers when the threat is so large. M$ should also provide AV, they will soon, but currently, millions are not protected. The code is too easily exploited, M$ is wealthy, they can afford to protect the customer.

Mathieu · 08-29-2003, 06:20 PM

Quote:

they charge for the swiss cheese OS, so they should send a CD with patches to all of their customers when the threat is so large.

They will never take such a bold step.

All I can say is Microsoft still does not understand the importance of software security.
They prefer software features over software security.

But in the end, like you said swiftnet, it will help "sell more Linux systems".

I was listening to the news conference and the spokesman from Microsoft mentioned "that this arrest sends a clear message to computer virus makers..."
The message is... 1 in 100 000 will be arrested.

I just started a new job and all the servers run Linux, however most of the workstations use Windows.
When I go in to work next week, I will propose to switch some of them to Linux.

swiftnet · 08-29-2003, 06:26 PM

I have converted several users to Linux (only one company is pure Linux). Win4Lin is great for those pesky legacy applications. The TS version makes administration very easy.

Good luck, converting those stations!

Brain Drop · 08-29-2003, 06:37 PM

being from northern minnesota, i can say that all them city (minneapolis) people are whack.

so how did someone see him testing it? was it at a public place or something or was he showing off or what?

ksgill · 08-29-2003, 09:56 PM

Quote:

May his testicles be wired to electrodes linked to a website with a button that everyone affected by his virus can click to send jolts of high voltave electricity through them...

why? Dont you think microsoft should fix its software and stop running over small companies ? I totally support virus writers who let people know (in their own ways) about the vulnerabilities in OS's..:P

Whitehat · 08-29-2003, 10:32 PM

Microsoft sux!