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Teen arrested in Blaster worm case 4

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GwydionM -> "... which I think is like a US 'Thrift' or 'Savings & Loan', except we kept proper regulations over here." What exactly do you mean by that, and what pertinence does it have to IT Ethics in the workplace?

For the sake of historical accuracy, could you please advise as to when the internet ideas were expressed in the British Prestel Viewdata and the French Mintel. I'm curious to know when.

I sure hope this thread does not morph into one where people choose to vent the political sentiments, regardless of what they might be.

Good Luck
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As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein
 
Can you imagine if the French actually "invented" the internet? I have troubles now remembering all the acronyms!!! Anyways...it probably wouldn't work or if it did the Germans would own it by now. But back on subject...I have never heard of a French Hacker, I'm sure they have them but since I started working in Europe I have never had an intrusion probe from a French based ISP or any type of attack that was traced back to France. (With my luck I will probably go in to work in the morning to see Viva la France posted all over our internet site)

CajunCenturion, hope this doesn't send us over the edge.

SF18C
CCNA, MCSE, A+, N+ & HPCC

"Tis better to die on your feet than live on your knees!"
 
Rhys666

Let me ask you something.

How does it make you feel that with the Release of Windows NT, Windows 2000 AND Windows XP that SP1 was already being developed and worked on when the OS went to the software press? That doesn't strike you as wrong, poor planning or just down right shady? Charge me $150 for a new copy of an OS so in a month I can spend half a night choking up my bandwidth with patches, which at times, do break more stuff than they fix?

I am not sure where we ever became so complacent as a society to let companies do these kinds of things and just accept is as a 'norm', but it just happened and I for one, don't like it and therefore I do tend to put the blame on Microsoft. They have the marketshare of the desktop, and a commmanding share at that. They are therefore obligated to test a little more than they do. They have the finances and the size to make a solid OS, but they just like to shove a new swiss cheese OS down our throats every couple years and then lay back and let the cash come in while everyone else suffers the brunt of the problems that they themselves, have introduced.

Sorry, but that is reality and is in most cases, rather unpleasant.

Cheers!

 
I am trying to get across who it is who gets hurt by worms and other malicious software.

A few years back, I was working on a hospital pharmacy system. This involved complex controls for drugs that people need, most with no 'street value', but vital for people's health. This includes a complex mix of medicines that some psychiatric patients need. It wasn't on PC technology when I was there, but that was a long time ago and it would have been a natural for it. Also they were short of cash and so might have PCs without the latest virus and worm protection and time spent handling the matter is time not spent on patient health.

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As for comment on my earlier post, I agree that this place is about ethics rather than politics, but protection from fraud is an ethical issue, isn't it?

You might also check out Einstein's views on politics and religion, they are interesting and I believe Amazon sells a whole book of them.
 
I don't want to sound stupid, but I never heard how the worm infected computers. Before the worm was even announced, I started getting tons of attachments from people I don't know. Since I delete these when I get them, and I wasn't infected, did the worm come in through an attachment? If so, isn't education of the public another thing we should be looking at? Again, I don't know how the worm got in, so I can't say. 2 cents worth.

Glen A. Johnson
Johnson Computer Consulting
"The best fire does not flare up the soonest."
George Eliot (1819-1880); Englist novelist.

Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at FAQ219-2884
 
GlenJohnson - the Blaster worm infects PC's without any user execution.

An infected machine connects to it's victim using RPC (Remote Procedure Call: used by MS for systems like 'Remote Assistance'). If the machine is unpatched, the RPC call will cause the target to execute the payload, infecting the machine.

This affects the NT family (NT/2000/XP) of Windows: 95/98/ME do not have this implementation of the RPC 'system'.

Because it's purely a TCP/IP connection, a firewall will happily block the relvant port (primarily port 135, but MS lists TCP ports 135, 139, 445 and 593; UDP port 135, 137,138;also UDP 69 (TFTP) and TCP 4444 for remote command shell)

Microsoft's info on MS Blast:
<marc> i wonder what will happen if i press this...[pc][ul][li]please give feedback on what works / what doesn't[/li][li]need some help? how to get a better answer: faq581-3339[/li][/ul]
 
edemiere

How does it make you feel that with the Release of Windows NT, Windows 2000 AND Windows XP that SP1 was already being developed and worked on when the OS went to the software press?
Kinda sad, but that's the world we live in. At the end of the day, Microsoft is a Business. The bottom line is turning a profit and making money, the same as it is for any Business. As long and we live in a capitalist society where making money is king, this is the way it's gonna be.

That doesn't strike you as wrong, poor planning or just down right shady? Charge me $150 for a new copy of an OS so in a month I can spend half a night choking up my bandwidth with patches, which at times, do break more stuff than they fix?
At lease they provide the fixes for free. I bought a car once, the head gasket went thru' no fault of mine, after I'd been to the garage complaining that something wasn't right in that area, (not being a mechanic I couldn't say what exactly was wrong and they wouldn't look for it). However, I ended up paying in the region of £1000 to carry out repairs. Never, and I mean never, having suffered a problem from a Windows patch I am eternally grateful that Microsoft identify and correct the problems with their software. If the garage had done the same with the car I bought I wouldn't have been out of pocket for the months that I was.

To me, although I wish that every product I bought was without fault, I know most of them are not. I'm happy that at least one company I make purchases from provide free and accessible fixes for problems with their product. In my experience, Microsoft are far better a company than most in this manner. Other peoples experience may give them a different viewpoint and that I can accept, but I don't accept that Microsoft stand out as a company selling shoddy products, there are merely one of thousands it's just the luck of the draw in how much experience you have in the companies whose products you buy sometimes.

What I'd really be interested in is a league table of companies representing the balance between units sold and complaints/issues received. Until we get one I doubt any of us can truly say how bad Microsoft are. Remember, we work in IT, and most of our days are spent working with MS products. What other products do you have such regular and repeated contact with other than Windows?

Rhys

Be careful that the light at the end of the tunnel isn't a train coming the other way.
 
I must have gotten lucky. Two W2k pro machines and a W2K server, didn't get hit. Recieved bunches of attachments that I deleted which led me to believe it might be attachment related. Had two friends call me to fix there machines. How did blaster get so big? Thanks. (Didn't do anything the article talked about, still didn't get hit.) Feeling lucky.

Glen A. Johnson
Johnson Computer Consulting
&quot;The best fire does not flare up the soonest.&quot;
George Eliot (1819-1880); Englist novelist.

Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at FAQ219-2884
 
Then you were very lucky or had a patch/firewall/both.

Blaster infected machines scan for other machines to infect, so it spreads very quickly.

I have a friend who ran a test to see how long it took for a non-patched machine to become infected and I believe it was in the region of 10-20 seconds.
 
That is scarey isn't yet. Looking at the details of how thi was spread though, I can't state how happy I am that I've never been ADSL connected without decent security. Even at home I've always used Norton Internet Security proffessional, and though you may call me paranoid, I'm yet to be hit by anything, (touches wood!).

I am constantly surprised how many people are simply unaware that being on the internet without some security is like leaving your home and leaving everything unlocked.

Cheers for the how's, why's and wherefores of how this thing spread though, as I too was unaware, but as I said, I don't go out without locking up behind me either.

Rhys

Be careful that the light at the end of the tunnel isn't a train coming the other way.
 
Rhys666:
On-the-desktop firewalls may not necessarily be all that safe, either.

I don't know how Norton's firewall works, but there have been others that ran as services on Win32. If you were logged into the machine as a user who had privileges to shut down services, a well-crafted ActiveX website could shut off your firewall service for you.

Although it's easier with IE and ActiveX on Win32, being logged in on any system as an administrator can make it easier to compromise systems.

Want the best answers? Ask the best questions: TANSTAAFL!!
 
Zone Alarm freebie is all I have. Possible because I'm on a private network at home, the worm didn't see me? Still feeling lucky.

Glen A. Johnson
Johnson Computer Consulting
&quot;The best fire does not flare up the soonest.&quot;
George Eliot (1819-1880); Englist novelist.

Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at FAQ219-2884
 
Sure, if you are behind a NATing Router you will be okay.

Always best to have a firewall too though.
 
Firewalls are good. So long as they can be depended on and so long as their rulesets are well-designed.

A firewall that can be disabled simply by hitting the wrong web-site or that has a Jarlsberg [I prefer Jarlsberg to Swiss. (They both have holes.)] cheese firewall ruleset is actually worse than having nothing at all. The firewall can lull into a false sense of security.



Want the best answers? Ask the best questions: TANSTAAFL!!
 
And the Department of Homeland Security, in the federal government's infinite wisdom, proclaims Microsoft their primary vendor!

And given the primary role and function of the DHS, why would they choose a company who has an OS with major security flaws?

It is also quite funny, or ironic, that a few months ago Microsoft announced they were going to spend billions on security and make it a focal point of the organization and their software. Good thing - can you imagine how much worse it would be if MS didn't announce that and take those monumental steps. [surprise]

 
An incorrectly setup firewall is worse than no firewall at all!
 
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