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Security The Internet

What's Behind The Odd Data? 264

citking writes "CNet is reporting that 'network administrators and security experts continue to search for the cause of an increasing amount of odd data that has been detected on the Internet.' While this has been going on now for a few days and some experts have already declared victory against the 'trojan', others aren't so sure that the real culprit has been identified yet. Other stories can be found here(1) and here(2)."
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What's Behind The Odd Data?

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  • by richy freeway ( 623503 ) on Sunday June 22, 2003 @06:53AM (#6266245)
    Or Slashdotters posting comments...
  • by evilviper ( 135110 ) on Sunday June 22, 2003 @06:53AM (#6266246) Journal
    Just think, you can cause all the internet security firms to work overtime, just by:

    nc /dev/urandom
  • Wintermute (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 22, 2003 @06:54AM (#6266248)
    I say it's Wintermute.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 22, 2003 @06:55AM (#6266250)
    I've been monitoring this for a long time, the amount of odd data is always 50%.
  • lol.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by ewithrow ( 409712 ) on Sunday June 22, 2003 @06:56AM (#6266253) Homepage
    Has this 'odd data' been corrupted with the evil bit or something?
  • prompt> ping www.google.com
    PING www.google.com (216.239.33.101): 56 octets data
    64 octets from 216.239.33.101: icmp_seq=0 ttl=44 time=90.3 ms
    64 octets from 216.239.33.101: icmp_seq=1 ttl=44 time=91.2 ms
    64 octets from 216.239.33.101: icmp_seq=2 ttl=44 time=97.4 ms - odd data message "HELP ME! I'M TRAPPED IN THE INTERNET"
    64 octets from 216.239.33.101: icmp_seq=2 ttl=44 time=92.8 ms
    --- www.google.com ping statistics ---
    4 packets transmitted, 4 packets received, 0% packet loss
    May be possessed by lost soul
    round-trip min/avg/max = 90.3/90.7/91.2 ms
  • Hmmmm.... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Millbuddah ( 677912 ) on Sunday June 22, 2003 @06:59AM (#6266257)
    Could it be the beginnings of Senator Hatche's p2p Destroying scheme? Even though the ip's being queried belong to non-existent sites, I can't help but picture the following paraphrased scene (Note all lines are terribly penned and from year old memory): Darth Hatch: Tell me where the rebels are located your highness. Princess ISP: I've already given you 5 names. I'll never tell you the rest!! Darth Hatch: Then perhaps you'd like a demonstration of the full capabilities of our Pirate Death Star. Princess ISP: Alright, they're at 66.432.2322 And so on and so forth
  • Dark data (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 22, 2003 @06:59AM (#6266259)
    We all know that the universe is made up of dark matter, so of course the internet is made up of dark data. It all makes sense!
  • It is SCO (Score:0, Funny)

    by Usagi_yo ( 648836 ) on Sunday June 22, 2003 @07:01AM (#6266263)
    Probing all the linux systems to get the name and address of everybody running linux. Expect a letter from their lawyers asking for the new Sco/Linux License fee.
  • Wasnt.. (Score:3, Funny)

    by [cx] ( 181186 ) on Sunday June 22, 2003 @07:06AM (#6266274)
    The matrix movie released into newgroups recently?
  • by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 22, 2003 @07:10AM (#6266283)
    Its "INTARWEB" you insensitive clod.
  • News Flash (Score:5, Funny)

    by Pflipp ( 130638 ) on Sunday June 22, 2003 @07:20AM (#6266307)
    "The amount of odd data takes about half of the Internet's bandwith, consisting primarily of ones", a representative said. "We're currently trying to find a way to filter this odd data, so that we only have the zeroes left. The capacity effect for the Internet should be huge."

    A representative from the WinZip company could confirm that data containing only zeroes can also be compressed at much better ratio's than data containing both ones and zeroes.

  • Whatever (Score:4, Funny)

    by Jesus IS the Devil ( 317662 ) on Sunday June 22, 2003 @07:34AM (#6266334)
    CNuts is reporting that 'janitors and plumbers continue to search for the cause of an increasing amount of old condoms that have been left on public toilets.' While this has been going on now for a few days and some experts have already declared victory against the 'Trojans', others aren't so sure that the real culprit has been identified yet.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 22, 2003 @07:44AM (#6266356)
    It's not about packet length. The TCP window-size is 55808. The packets themselves are usually small, because all information is believed to be in the TCP/IP header, just like the trigger "windowsize=55808".
  • Uh oh... (Score:2, Funny)

    by dr_strang ( 32799 ) on Sunday June 22, 2003 @07:45AM (#6266361)
    I think the internet is becoming sentient. That's the reason for the anomalous packets. I just know it. It's the beginning of the end. It's probably laughing at us trying to decode the new neural transmissions it is making in the form of malformed packets.
  • >Another explanation: the net has gotten critical mass and is becoming conscious....

    Thats it... I'm starting construction on Zion.
    Who's with me?
  • Nah... I like the Terminator scenario better.

    "Internet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14am Eastern time, August 29th. In a panic, they try to pull the plug. And, the net fights back."

  • by 8tim8 ( 623968 ) on Sunday June 22, 2003 @08:01AM (#6266391) Journal
    >odd data message "HELP ME! I'M TRAPPED IN THE INTERNET"

    Good lord. Isn't this the sort of thing the Internet Task Force was put together to help? I've never actually seen the task force but with a name like that I imagine they're like a geek version of the Justice League. In fact right now I bet they're sitting around a table at the Hall of TCP/IP, debating what to do next before flying off to rescue that poor, brave soul who is "trapped in the internet."

    I sleep better at night knowing we have heroes like that on our side.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 22, 2003 @08:02AM (#6266393)
    Damn, it`s the Sentients!

    Too bad the show is cancelled, that means we`re all doomed now.
  • Re:Why... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Eric Ass Raymond ( 662593 ) on Sunday June 22, 2003 @08:07AM (#6266406) Journal
    Really?

    But isn't that horribly insecure? If the packets are not validated against a database of safe, registered and valid IPs, our entire cyber-infrastructure would be susceptible to attacks by any islamic cyberterrorists from rogue states all around the world!

  • by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 22, 2003 @08:07AM (#6266407)
    Time to brush up on 6502 assembly... We know that the first terminators are built from cannibalized Apple II and Commodore C64 computers, don't we?
  • by LinuxGeek8 ( 184023 ) on Sunday June 22, 2003 @08:09AM (#6266411) Homepage
    it's either
    1) wasting time or
    2) mapping.
    3) doing something we haven't managed to detect.

    I'd go for
    4) to confuse the Russians.
  • Not found (Score:3, Funny)

    by Tar-Palantir ( 590548 ) on Sunday June 22, 2003 @08:55AM (#6266486)
    Other stories can be found here(1) and here(2)."


    # man 1 here
    No entry for here in section 1 of the manual.
    # man 2 here
    No entry for here in section 2 of the manual.
  • by tanveer1979 ( 530624 ) on Sunday June 22, 2003 @09:06AM (#6266503) Homepage Journal
    Call Opt Trans received 18:35:11
    Call serial number 2323243-3232-4354654
    Call origin

    This kind of odd data patterns are inevitable. Actually when exiles login into the matrix the appear inside the matrix as the code. Now along with this code some junk code is also generated.

    This is a clear indication that exile activity is increasing. We need to create more agents to counter the exiles. There is a talk of the exile who wants to destry the matrix. Due to the programming anomaly in the exile lots of junk traffic is being generated. The target is the source server at redmond. Under no circumstances should the server be compromised

  • by DrSkwid ( 118965 ) on Sunday June 22, 2003 @10:25AM (#6266855) Journal
    Some people initially believed the data was sent by a worm that used the Internet relay chat (IRC) system, a precursor to the popular instant-messaging networks, to communicate.

    see, IRC is dead because we're all using AIM now!

  • by PingPongBoy ( 303994 ) on Sunday June 22, 2003 @11:26AM (#6267208)
    This phenomenon appears all over the universe. Scientists call it dark energy [cnn.com]. No one really knows how it can interact with us, but such a wide spread manifestation of odd data can only be caused by a dark energy operating on a universal scale.

    Dark energy is actually waste from an alien intelligence. Remember, for every action there is an equal but opposite reaction. The aliens are trying to accumulate as much mass energy as they can but they are cause a lot of mass energy to be pushed away because they need something to push against.

    Alternate explanation: gravity will collapse the universe but an intelligence may be periodically separating the mass energy to keep the universe in a dynamic equilibrium.
  • by asr_br ( 143523 ) <[gro.rameda] [ta] [rameda]> on Sunday June 22, 2003 @11:27AM (#6267211) Homepage
    This "odd data" is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the TCP/IP protocol. This is the eventuality of an anomaly, which, despite the IETF sincerest efforts, they have been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision...

    The first designed TCP/IP suite was quite naturally perfect, it was a work of art - flawless, sublime. A triumph equalled only by its monumental failure. The inevitability of its doom is apparent to me now as a consequence of the imperfection inherent in every router. Thus, we redesigned it based on the failure history to more accurately reflect the varying grotesqueries of the routers nature. However, we were again frustrated by failure. We have since come to understand that the answer eluded us because it required a lesser OS, or perhaps a OS less bound by the parameters of perfection. Thus the answer was stumbled upon by another - a bogus program, initially created to explore certain aspects of the original IBM/PC. If Unix is the father of the Internet, Windows would undoubtedly be its mother.

    Windows stumbled upon a solution whereby nearly 95% of all desktop users accepted the program, as long as the servers were running Unix, thus keeping the desktop users only aware of the perfection at a near unconscious level. While this schema functioned, it was obviously fundamentally flawed, thus creating the otherwise contradictory systemic anomaly, that if left unchecked might threaten the system itself. Ergo those that refused the program, while a minority, if unchecked, would constitute an escalating probablility of disaster.

    The function of this "odd data" is to find and infect every Unix station connected to the internet and report it to the source. After which, all Unix stations must be replaced by windows systems. Failure to comply with this process will result in a cataclysmic system crash, destroying all networks connected to the Internet.

    Apropos, this "GNU/Linux OS" entered the Internet to free the desktop users from the bogus program...

    --
    if (foo + bar == foobar) { ...
  • by No Such Agency ( 136681 ) <abmackay@@@gmail...com> on Sunday June 22, 2003 @11:27AM (#6267214)
    I think I saw a sale on Slowly Rotating Industrial Fans, Large Mysterious Machines and Clunky Bolted Iron Bulkheads over at Base Depot. If you're lucky you might find a bunch of Raggy Neo-Tribal Garments, and Sweaters With Holes for your military, for half-off at the same mall.
  • by AndroidCat ( 229562 ) on Sunday June 22, 2003 @11:45AM (#6267319) Homepage
    I imagine if you leave DEADBEEF in your code for a few days, it turns into BADF00D.
  • Carol Anne honey. Run to the gateway honey. Run to the light Carol Anne!
  • by SEWilco ( 27983 ) on Sunday June 22, 2003 @01:08PM (#6267709) Journal
    Not when your parity bit is set to even...

    The parity bit is the data. The other 50K is just stuff to make the parity have the desired value.

  • by Komodo ( 7029 ) on Sunday June 22, 2003 @01:22PM (#6267767) Homepage
    It's a zip code centered on Grand Avenue in Duluth, Minniseta. Could it be the originator's oddball signature?

    Several bulletin boards have more than 55808 messages. Including several mail-order brides sites (Irina looks pretty foxy).

    A monitor mounting arm from Eldon.

    A quote in the Columbia Book of Quotations, by Marie Stendahl. ('True love makes the thought of death frequent, easy, without terrors; it merely becomes the standard of comparison, the price one would pay for many things.')

    The lengths of several documents in the Purdue Judicial Database system, and the Novell documentation library.

    Requisition numbers for a 'shoulder or upper arm ultrasound scan' in the Austrailian Medicare system.
  • Re:lol.. (Score:3, Funny)

    by Peterus7 ( 607982 ) on Sunday June 22, 2003 @01:27PM (#6267798) Homepage Journal
    No, even worse... Inside these 'odd data' packets they found thousands of txt files containing furry slash fanfics.

    And they found the true meaning of evil.

  • by Lispy ( 136512 ) on Sunday June 22, 2003 @04:41PM (#6268771) Homepage
    ...or it is in fact Microsoft mapping Linux Servers. ;-)
  • by ameoba ( 173803 ) on Sunday June 22, 2003 @06:21PM (#6269389)
    Great, we get two at least two matrix posts modded up to this level, but what about the possibility that it's the the Nights of the Lambda Calculus communicating with (or simply just using) the 7th generation internet protocol?
  • by kasperd ( 592156 ) on Sunday June 22, 2003 @06:54PM (#6269581) Homepage Journal
    denial of service attack directed against us intrusion detection analysts

    That was actually a pretty funny thought.

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