Sound like busy days for anti-virus folkes ?
From: 1/2 pint (anonymous_esboella_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 02/16/04
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Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2004 16:48:38 -0800
Hey Hey, looks like the Anti-Virus folks will be busy !
Regards
half_pint
esboella@yahoo.com
LONDON/AMSTERDAM - Internet users on Friday were
ferociously downloading pirate versions of Microsoft
Corp's Windows source code, stoking concerns hackers and
virus writers could use it for a new wave of cyber
attacks.
The world's largest software maker alerted the public on
Thursday that parts of its valuable source code for its
Windows NT and Windows 2000 operating systems had been
leaked to various online file-sharing networks. Microsoft
said the released code amounted to a fraction of the
entire program, but that wasn't stopping the curious and
the malevolent from checking it out for themselves.
Noting the size of the files being swapped on Internet
file-sharing networks on Friday, security experts feared
there could be enough compromised code available to crack
open vital pieces of a software that run millions of
computers.
"Whilst we do not know exactly what's in circulation,
every coder, every malware jockey and every hacker who
has a reasonable understanding of programming is going to
be looking to get their hands on this source code," said
Richard Starnes, an information security specialist who
works with various law enforcement agencies on cyber-
crime investigations.
SOURCE CODE FOR THE TAKING Various computer security
firms were reporting on Friday that two compressed files -
- one at 203 megabytes and another at 229 megabytes of
Windows NT and Windows 2000 operating systems -- were
being widely distributed on scores of online exchanges.
Security officials said the compressed files amounted to
a CD-Rom's worth of data and represented less than five
percent of Windows code. However, they warned it may
relate critical security functions.
"I do not believe Microsoft would have issued a public
statement if the source code for solitaire had been
released," said Starnes. The concern is that in the wrong
hands, virus writers and hackers could discover
vulnerabilities in the software and use it to break into
PCs running on Windows 2000 or NT to destroy or steal
data. Microsoft on Thursday was quick to dismiss this as
unlikely, but that hasn't deterred Internet users from
downloading the files. "The source code leak spread
quickly in the underground," said Ken Dunham, Malicious
Code Intelligence manager for security consultancy
iDefense. Microsoft said it believed the leak could be a
software developer, but was no closer on Friday to
pinpointing the suspect.
Microsoft, which has been criticized for a number of
software glitches that have been used by virus writers to
develop potent Internet contagions, said it is working
with the Federal Bureau of Investigations to track down
the culprit. The list of suspects could be a long one.
Microsoft last year began sharing parts of its Windows
source code with governments interested in tailoring it
to fit, primarily, their security needs.
Microsoft also has a longer-running initiative to provide
universities and large corporate customers pieces of its
source code for research and development purposes with
tight restrictions on making it publicly available. The
initiatives were launched in part to address the
competitive threat Microsoft was feeling from vendors of
the open-source Linux software. Linux has gained valuable
market share in recent years as government and corporate
users see it as a transparent software alternative that
can be customized to fit their needs.
Microsoft responded to the Linux threat by offering
discounts to win over budget-conscious customers and
vowing to give customers a closer peek at its most
valuable asset. "I don't think that this kind of shared
source usage can be scaled back. It's become an essential
part of our business practices. Governments want it for
trust and transparency. Businesses want it for security,"
Wilfried Grommen, general manager for Microsoft's
business strategy for Europe, Middle East and Africa,
told Reuters on Friday.
"It's a very large group of people that have access to
the source code. It includes people at 120 universities
in 27 countries. It includes large enterprises," he said,
adding Microsoft recently began distributing code to
independent software developers too. "That is another
large community," he said.
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