Researchers Predict Worm that Eats the Internet in

[Balandar]

http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1023w.html#item4

"Researchers Predict Worm that Eats the Internet in 15 Minutes"

Network World Fusion (10/21/02); Messmer, Ellen

A two-month-old research paper theorizes next-generation computer worms that could overrun the Internet in a matter of minutes; such worms would use "hit lists" of vulnerable systems, rather than scan blindly, and also carry payloads that would facilitate remote-control automated denial-of-service attacks and file deletion. Their rate of infection would be so high "that no human-mediated counter-response is possible," according to the paper. Co-author and Silicon Defense President Stuart Staniford says that the paper's thesis was tested in a laboratory, using a simulated computer worm programmed to take over 10 million online hosts via low- and high-speed lines; it was estimated that the worm, code-named "Warhol," could corrupt over 9 million servers in about 15 minutes, using the hit list approach. Another worm, code-named "Flash," could supposedly contaminate the Internet even faster. Although such worms have yet to emerge, government officials and anti-virus software vendors do not discount the possibility. A spokesman for Kaspersky Labs notes that his firm anticipated such worms two years ago, but refused to publish out of fear that virus writers would use the knowledge to their advantage. "[The new paper's authors] did this and they are half-guilty for such a worm [appearing] that may easily cause the Internet to be down in just an hour, so users will not be able to download anti-virus updates," he contends. The authors say the government should establish an operations center that focuses on threatening viruses and worms, and National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace recommends that a threat analysis facility be set up. Staniford says his company is developing protection against Flash worms, although he will not provide details, while behavior-based technologies could prove to be another effective defensive measure.

http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2002/1021worm.html

[Kurt]

In other news, WARHOL HAS BEEN LEAKED TO THE INTERNET!!!