Quick Essay on Computer Security
Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 1:56 amThis is an essay I wrote for scholarships back in the day. I thought it was a pretty interesting read.
The Internet: a Cesspool of Disease
So I went to check my email the other day, and to my surprise I had received some spam titled, “Hot Babes in Your Area Want Your Body NOW!!!” This was upsetting to me for two reasons. First, because “NOW!!!” is not a timeframe I would be able to deal with, and secondly, because I knew it was some fake ad to get me to download malware, spyware or some other form of nastywares. Like any intelligent person though, I deleted it and went on to read my other messages, but the fact is 50% of the population is below average, and countless people have opened up these types of messages, popups, or shady web pages to get infected. Later they probably end up being part of a botnet in a DoS attack or have their identity sold on the black market. My main concern isn’t for the people that get malicious code on their computer, it happens to everyone at some point or another. My concern is for the people that write the programs in the first place. That’s why I feel the internet is in dire need of some help to stop these sick, perverted individuals.
Little is being done to stop these people, which is probably the biggest problem. Antivirus companies have their products counter their malicious creations, but then they just go on to make another, smarter virus. Right now, this is our best, and only, defense. Little can be done legally since these people are generally from Eastern Europe, Brazil or China. Foreign governments aren’t stopping them since they either don’t care, can’t because often times viruses are written to not infect computers in their local countries (like the new Antivirus2009 fake program) so it isn’t illegal, or because it’s generating wealth for that country and it’s in their best economic interest to not stop them. As always though, looking to the government isn’t always the best solution. Sometimes we have to take matters into our own hands.
As a “computer nerd” I’m asked constantly to fix peoples’ computers, and I nearly always oblige. Lately, I’ve been seeing tons of computers with “Antivirus2009”, a fake antivirus app that installs itself along with some other trojans and such depending on the version and can’t be removed. Of course, this “program” also constantly asks that you pay for the “full protection” it offers. There have been instances where people have actually “bought” it and end up having all their money gone the next day. So anyway, after the first few times I saw this I was so frustrated that I was going to do something about it. I got all the IPs and domain names I could that were involved with the program and started running whois checks, just to see if I could find a phone number to scream at someone, but my search was in vain. I know I’m not the smartest person alive, but I’m sure there’s other people in the world that could succeed where I have failed.
Basically, the internet needs one thing to stop this: vigilante justice. I’m not saying we should hunt these people down and repeatedly punch them in the face (although I’m not entirely against that), but something needs to be done to teach them a lesson. I know an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, but I think these hackers could learn a lesson by having someone steal their banking information and use every cent they own to deliver their least favorite kind of pizza to their house. Revenge isn’t the only solution though. Sometimes the nerds of the internet make “curing” viruses, or programs that spread like viruses and remove harmful infections. One example is the Cheese worm that would scan the internet for machines affected by Lion worm and use the same backdoor it was running rootkits on to clear Lion off. These are just a few examples of things that could be done to help with the ever-increasing internet security threat and I know that with the ingenuity of humans that we will be able to do something about it, hopefully soon.
The Internet: a Cesspool of Disease
So I went to check my email the other day, and to my surprise I had received some spam titled, “Hot Babes in Your Area Want Your Body NOW!!!” This was upsetting to me for two reasons. First, because “NOW!!!” is not a timeframe I would be able to deal with, and secondly, because I knew it was some fake ad to get me to download malware, spyware or some other form of nastywares. Like any intelligent person though, I deleted it and went on to read my other messages, but the fact is 50% of the population is below average, and countless people have opened up these types of messages, popups, or shady web pages to get infected. Later they probably end up being part of a botnet in a DoS attack or have their identity sold on the black market. My main concern isn’t for the people that get malicious code on their computer, it happens to everyone at some point or another. My concern is for the people that write the programs in the first place. That’s why I feel the internet is in dire need of some help to stop these sick, perverted individuals.
Little is being done to stop these people, which is probably the biggest problem. Antivirus companies have their products counter their malicious creations, but then they just go on to make another, smarter virus. Right now, this is our best, and only, defense. Little can be done legally since these people are generally from Eastern Europe, Brazil or China. Foreign governments aren’t stopping them since they either don’t care, can’t because often times viruses are written to not infect computers in their local countries (like the new Antivirus2009 fake program) so it isn’t illegal, or because it’s generating wealth for that country and it’s in their best economic interest to not stop them. As always though, looking to the government isn’t always the best solution. Sometimes we have to take matters into our own hands.
As a “computer nerd” I’m asked constantly to fix peoples’ computers, and I nearly always oblige. Lately, I’ve been seeing tons of computers with “Antivirus2009”, a fake antivirus app that installs itself along with some other trojans and such depending on the version and can’t be removed. Of course, this “program” also constantly asks that you pay for the “full protection” it offers. There have been instances where people have actually “bought” it and end up having all their money gone the next day. So anyway, after the first few times I saw this I was so frustrated that I was going to do something about it. I got all the IPs and domain names I could that were involved with the program and started running whois checks, just to see if I could find a phone number to scream at someone, but my search was in vain. I know I’m not the smartest person alive, but I’m sure there’s other people in the world that could succeed where I have failed.
Basically, the internet needs one thing to stop this: vigilante justice. I’m not saying we should hunt these people down and repeatedly punch them in the face (although I’m not entirely against that), but something needs to be done to teach them a lesson. I know an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, but I think these hackers could learn a lesson by having someone steal their banking information and use every cent they own to deliver their least favorite kind of pizza to their house. Revenge isn’t the only solution though. Sometimes the nerds of the internet make “curing” viruses, or programs that spread like viruses and remove harmful infections. One example is the Cheese worm that would scan the internet for machines affected by Lion worm and use the same backdoor it was running rootkits on to clear Lion off. These are just a few examples of things that could be done to help with the ever-increasing internet security threat and I know that with the ingenuity of humans that we will be able to do something about it, hopefully soon.