Malware myopia

[bemildred]

Alarmist, wrong, and very funny. The cool thing about writing crappy OS software is that you can then get people to pay you a form of rent to "protect" it.
:popcorn:

Earlier this month, researchers discovered a cunning strain of malware, dubbed the Lurid Downloader, that has been systematically and silently stealing data from carefully targeted government computers in 61 countries.

The discovery was made by Trend Micro, a Tokyo-based computer security company, which identified the invader as a version of a well-known strain of malware that exploits vulnerabilities in the popular programs Adobe Reader and Microsoft Office. It inserts itself into a computer's core, and then phones home to a remote operator who moves continually from domain to domain on the Internet to avoid detection.

The Lurid Downloader had been at work for more than a year inside sensitive government networks (diplomatic offices, space agencies, research institutions), mostly in Russia and countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union. Once in place, the virus can easily hop around inside a network and, under the control of a remote operator, observe users' keystrokes, peruse files and upload any data it wants to keep.

It is just the most recent example of the newest trend in cyberattacks, something those in the field have dubbed "advanced persistent threats," or APTs. They forgo the more familiar blunderbuss methods of mass infection in favor of sniper-like precision, and they have begun bedeviling cyberspace like a cloud of stinging insects. All take advantage of the anarchic nature of the Internet itself, which emerged 30 years ago free of any central governance or oversight. Because of the essential fluidity of Internet Protocol addresses, which locate a computer in cyberspace, such attacks can be launched with little fear that authorities will be able to pinpoint their origin.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-bowden-malware-20111023,0,6707796.story

[ixion]

1. "All take advantage of the anarchic nature of the Internet itself"

anarchic... a curious, inflammatory and incorrect usage of the word, in my opinion.

[bemildred]

2. Yes, an "unanarchic" internet would not scale well.

So that usage is complete rubbish.

[ixion]

4. Yep, that and it's not 'anarchy' as it is

it's a very ordered and predictable process. If it were not, you could not guarantee a response. Packets may take different routes on their journey, but they always wind up at a predictable location.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

3. I can hear it now, "Do you have an apt for that???" n/t