Full FeedMicrosoft offers $250,000 bounty for hackers
Microsoft has announced it is offering a $250,000 award for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the Conficker Worm. The worm, also known as Downadup, is the worst worm outbreak the net has seen in years.
It takes advantage of a security hole in the Windows OS. Even though the hole was patched months ago, the worm rages on and has infected over 10 million PCs around the world, including those belonging to the French and British militaries. It’s believed Conficker was designed by a new group of cybercriminals determined to build the biggest botnet ever.
When installed it takes over the infected computer, harvests any personal information it finds and sends it to its command center and downloads even more malware. It also disables Windows Updates, Windows Defender, Error Reporting Service, and resets all System Restore points. It even senses if the user visits an anti-virus site and blocks any downloads from them. Very nasty bugger!
Microsoft said it’s also working with ICANN and various domain name registrars to try and take down the servers being used by the criminals to launch these attacks.
“The best way to defeat potential botnets like Conficker/Downadup is by the security and domain name system communities working together,” said Greg Rattray, ICANN chief Internet security adviser, in a statement released Thursday. “ICANN represents a community that’s all about coordinating those kinds of efforts to keep the Internet globally secure and stable.”
This isn’t the first time Microsoft has issued a bounty. A few years ago, two individuals pocketed a $250,000 reward after turning in the teenager who was responsible for the infamous Sasser worm. It’s not clear if the reward will work similar magic this time. If the person or persons responsible for Conficker are located in a cybercrime friendly area such as Romania or Estonia, finding them and bringing them to justice may be next to impossible.
Read[PCWorld]
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on February 13, 2009 at 10:19 PM - LINK