Hunt for Code Red authors turns into witch hunt

Published: 14 August 2001 y., Tuesday
In the run-up to the Hackers at Large (HAL) conference in Holland last weekend, the German newswire DPA carried reports that "computer security experts" had identified the "Dutch hacker group 29A" as source of Code Red by means of "information from online forums". In fact, 29A are a largely Spanish group one of whose former members, Wintermute, wrote a DOS virus called RedCode, which has nothing to do with the Code Red worm. Mental Driller, a member of 29A, has sent an email out denying its involvement in the development of Code Red, which contained destructive code that his "research virus programming group" would not include in their viruses, which he claimed were designed to show up system vulnerabilities. We're not inclined to take statement from virus writers at face value but Mental Driller's statement is backed Frank Rieger, of respected white-hat hackers the Chaos Computer Club as well as antivirus experts. Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at antivirus vendor Sophos, said Code Red was "unlikely" to have been written by 29A because the worm didn't fit with their "style or method of attack". 29A, Hexadecimal for 666, features in the source code of Code Red and this may have led to people jumping to conclusions about the involvement of the group in writing the worm, Cluley suggested. Frank Rieger, of Chaos Computer Club, said that erroneous reports that 29A were Dutch had caused stress for organisers of the HAL conference who feared that the DPA article would provide an excuse for the authorities to come down hard on them.
Šaltinis: theregister.co.uk
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.

Facebook Comments

New comment


Captcha

Associated articles

Microsoft revenues hit a record as Xbox sales soar

The US technology giant Microsoft said its annual revenues hit a record of $69.94bn (£43.4bn).Sales of the company's Xbox 360 videogame console and its Office software helped fuel the growth. more »

Fujitsu Next Generation Color e-Paper Module

Fujitsu demonstrated a next generation cholesteric LCD color digital paper module at the International Digital Publishing Expo. more »

Apple to Start Producing iPhone 5 in August – Morgan Stanley’s Report

Apple’s next iPhone will begin production in mid to late August and ramp aggressively. more »

Is the Rimino concept phone the future of mobile technology?

People who create concept designs for future technology always have the luxury that their ideas don’t have to be practical or possible now, just cool enough to get people excited about what might be created one day. more »

Investment Values Twitter at $8 Billion

While Twitter isn’t rushing to go public like some of its larger peers, the microblogging service has no problem luring deep-pocketed investors. more »

Skyping on Facebook

Free video chat is coming to Facebook. more »

Nokia‘s Windows of opportunity?

Nokia is still one of the biggest names in mobile phones but the company is in rapid decline and profits are sharply down. more »

GSM is 20 years old

Wireless connection standard "Global System for Mobile Communications“ (GSM) this year on July 1st has reached 20 years of age. more »

HTC Eternity and HTC Omega Coming Soon?

Not long ago we heard a rumor about HTC’s upcoming device supporting a 12 megapixel camera; now we have some info about two more novelties. more »

Amosu Couture Gold iPad – More Glamorous Version

While the Stuart Hughes iPad Supreme Editions command respect and an astronomical price, there are other ways to glamorize your brand-new tech toy. more »