Remember the Conficker worm that you recently read about here on “What’s on my PC…” [ click here ] ? In summary, Microsoft is going on the offensive by offering a quarter of a million dollars to track down the author(s) of the Conficker worm (aka: downadup, Kido). Conficker exploits a Windows vulnerability; patched by the October ‘08 Microsoft security update. If you had your PC configured to receive Microsoft updates automatically, you would have received the patch (or fix) this past October. Numerous reports are indicating that, as many as, 10 million PC’s have been infected. Being a former IT Manager, I have to wonder how many business and government entities were standing with their pants down on this one. No excuse in missing Windows updates, on the business or government level, in my opinion.
clipped from www.foxnews.com
Microsoft Posts $250,000 Reward for PC Hackers
Friday, February 13, 2009
Look out, computer hackers– there’s a new sheriff in town.
Microsoft announced Thursday that it had placed a $250,000 bounty on the heads of the developers and distributors of a nasty computer virus that’s been worming its way worldwide for months.
Known as the Conficker (a pun on “configure” and a four-letter German swear word) or Downadup worm , the virus has infected at least 10 million Windows-based computers since it first appeared in October. It’s forced the British and French navies to take some systems offline.
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February 16, 2009 at 11:24 am |
Back in November a company called Express Scripts received a blackmail note from hackers who had gained access to their database of sensitive customer records (customer “identities”). Not only did the company refuse to pay the extortion, but they offered a $1 million dollar reward.
(http://techpaul.wordpress.com/2008/11/13/1-million-reward-offered/)
Cyber-criminals know they can operate with a large degree of anonymity and impunity. I would very much like to see that change. One can hope that the “bounty on their head” approach gains enough acceptance that a new ‘career’ is created, cyber-bounty hunter.
February 16, 2009 at 12:36 pm |
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March 30, 2009 at 8:07 pm |
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