New Worm Chats with Users on AIM 577
goldseries writes "CNet is reporting that a new
IM worm chats with users to get them to down load a file containing a virus. The virus replicates its self and sends its self out to user's buddy lists. The virus will reply 'lol no this is not a virus.' The virus hides users from seeing the messages sent out to members of their buddy list. Viruses are evolving; now they will even talk to you."
lol no this is not a virus (Score:5, Funny)
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:4, Funny)
FTA: "A new worm that targets users of America Online's AOL Instant Messenger..."
What did anyone expect?
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:5, Funny)
Well ya. What's your point?
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:4, Funny)
ME TOO!!!
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:5, Interesting)
Don't you just hate it when Insightful gets modded Funny?
I can picture it now. All these lusers whining about their toasted computers... 'But my buddy sent it to me! No, I know about viruses, so I asked if it was for real, and he said it wasn't a virus! It sounded just like him!'
How the hell is this going to be stopped? It's easy to beat the AOL Turing test, because these people use such a warped and simplified form of English that leaves out most of the quirks that give away the lack of any intelligence behind the text. Either we educate AOLusers - in English rather than in computer science - so that they use more complex language that machines can't readily mimic, or we shut down file transfers over IM.
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:4, Funny)
It's been suggested many times, but it may now be required... euthanizing AOL users.
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:4, Insightful)
No. just deny them use of computers until after rehabilitation. Now those who get broadband access AND STILL BUY AOL because it's the Internet, those are the ones to use your tactics on.
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:5, Interesting)
As a fringe benefit it will also filter out anyone who can't be bothered to spell most of their email correctly, which might be handy for those who receive crazy rants due to their online postings. :)
get free sheikh speare! (Score:4, Interesting)
Of course, spammers will compensate by padding emails with 98% Shakespeare
Well, at least you would have an interesting read in you inbox everyday; maybe one could develop some sort of persistant distributed storage scheme involving spamRe:lol no this is not a virus (Score:4, Funny)
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:3, Interesting)
if everyone used proper spelling and grammer, computer comprehension (and filtering) would be able to improve.
QED. It may interest you to know how many ways there are to spell Viagra [cockeyed.com]...
Re:This is old school (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't understand why AOL doesn't simply apply anti-bot filters when this crap is discovered. No IM protocols in use today are peer-to-peer based, they are all server based (otherwise firewalls would have prevented IM from taking off amongst the Joe Sixpack crowd.)
These bots all have distinctive signatures, how hard could it possibly be to pinch them off at the server side? They could do other things, too, such as IM'ing the infected client from Admin to say "Busted, O virus-laden one. Please update your antivirus software and only then will we allow you back onto our servers."
Seems like an ounce of prevention to me ...
Liza virus next? (Score:5, Funny)
"How does thinking I'm a virus make you feel?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Come, come. Elucidate your feelings."
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:5, Funny)
Windows needs to be fixed so that executables renamed as PIF are NOT executed. God that's stupid.
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:5, Insightful)
How about fixing windows so that it uses execute bit in the filesystem, rather then the extension of the file to decide whether to execute something or not?
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:5, Informative)
Windows NT/2000/XP already have this (sorta). You can set execute privileges on files, just like in UNIX.
However, a default Windows XP install will be set up to inherit all permissions from the root of the drive, and will have the Users group set to Read, Execute, and Traverse Directories. So everything you download is by default executable, and no program I know of ever bothers to unset that. (Actually, the latest version of IE will store some metadata with executable files downloaded through it that marks the file as being "untrusted," but I think that only Windows Explorer (basically, IE itself) actually respects that metadata.)
The other thing you need to understand is that, like UNIX, you can essentially exec (on Windows, ShellExecute [microsoft.com]) any file on the system. Unlike UNIX, though, the kernel won't actually try and interpret the file. Instead the Windows API (I think) will look up the file type and send the file off to the approriate handler. So when you call ShellExecute, you're essentially acting like the user clicked on the file in Windows Explorer. To most programs like AIM, there's no difference between executing another program and opening a file in its viewer. As far as I know, there's really no way of asking Windows "are you going to just look at that, or actually run that?"
The basic point here is that while Windows XP (and NTFS) do support an Executable flag, by default it's always on. Plus the "launch file" API will also run programs, and there's really no way to be certain that a file you're launching won't essentially be an executable.
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:5, Informative)
I said execute bit in the filesystem.
So - the virus would come in from the mail system with the execute bit set to 0, the user would have to download the file, get its properties, and tick the "execute" checkbox.
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:4, Insightful)
From the TFA..... (Score:4, Funny)
S7uP3D UZ3R: Did you mean to send this? Or is it a virus or something?
SMERT VIRI: lol no this is not a virus
S7uP3D UZ3R: Kewl! Thnx 4 the link!
Journalists!
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:3, Funny)
Seriously. I think if you're too dumb to be able to right click, select properties, click the permissions tab, and select "execute", apply, and ok, then you should not be able to install the latest "Hello Kitty" mouse pointer or whatever other crap you've managed to download.
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:3, Insightful)
(we'll ignore the WTF of unhiding something by unticking it)
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:5, Funny)
dingALing!
"lol no this is not a virus. but u gotta chown root:root notavirus; chmod o+xS notavirus to read it!"
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:4, Insightful)
Seriously, the problem is user education. People believe ANYTHING that appears on their computer screens, much in the same way people believe ANYTHING that appears on the TV news.
The problem we have is that too many people lack the critical thinking skills necessary to operate a computer (or watch the TV news).
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:3, Funny)
Uhh... Windows DOES have the Execute "bit" (Score:5, Informative)
Or, you can go into your Group Policy Object (Local Computer or Domain) and by default in your Software Restrictions Policy disallow execution unless they were in areas of the file system you designate, I.E.: "Program Files" folder. And if I remember correctly, saved files from current versions of IM programs are saved in "My Documents" outside of the "Program Files" folder by default.
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:5, Interesting)
How many trojans are named "something.jpg.exe" or just have a picture icon, or html icon when it's truly an exe? What motard at MS thought hiding "the oh so complex" file extension was a good thing?
Seriously, this one has bugged me for years. Dumbing down computer interfaces beyond a certain point is just asking for trouble.
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:3, Interesting)
But yes, nobody complains except when Microsoft does stuff like this. Goofy.
What's even goofier is that in OS X, as far as I can figure, "show file extension" is a file-specific flag, not a user-specific flag. Unless I'm missing something, it's impossible to get OS X to show file extensions on all files all the time.
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:3, Informative)
Finder>Preferences>Advanced
Tick the Show all file extensions box.
Enjoy
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:5, Informative)
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:3, Informative)
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:5, Insightful)
On 2000,XP and 2003 DOS apps settings are now held in two places, the registry and inside the
However, PIFs are still supported execution-wise in the OS to maintain backwards compatiblity - something that *shuold* have been eradicated/managed-out with XPs SP2 and all it's 'security' updates - something along the lines of:
'You've have tried to run the file CelineDionNaked.jpg.pif, this may not be a legitimate application. Choose Run to run the file, Delete to delete the file, and Update to convert to a Windows XP icon.'
-Jar.
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:3, Insightful)
For many people, that sentence would mean nothing other than "hit run to proceed".
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:3, Insightful)
Anyone that would even be remotely interested in clicking on a file that was labeled CelineDionNaked.* has more immediate and serious issues than their pWn3d w1nbl03s box.
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:3, Funny)
Even if that file was a legitimate image, the damage done to my soul would be far worse than any virus could do to my computer.
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:5, Informative)
Re:lol no this is not a virus (Score:5, Funny)
Viruses have always talked to you (Score:5, Informative)
What is this, a turing test? (Score:5, Funny)
Answer: It sounds more intelligent than a normal user
Re:What is this, a turing test? (Score:5, Funny)
A: OMG 1337.101
Q: What's the difference between the average AIM user and a Worm
A: One is slimy , insidious , hard to get rid of and invades your system , the other is a self replicating program able to propagate over a network
say goodbye.... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:say goodbye.... (Score:5, Funny)
Now if this would only hit battlenet servers...
It's not the first small app that will talk to you (Score:5, Interesting)
This is a small app and she will talk with you - pretty well. So the fact these guys use something similar (it might even be this app) is no big surprise.
That's why I use Trillian..I still haven't figured out how come it won't let me download files, or even get pictures from other people or even do any kind of direct connect
Re:It's not the first small app that will talk to (Score:4, Informative)
If you read some classic LISP texts, such as Norvig's book on AI using Common Lisp, or another book The Elements of Artificial Intelligence, and other classic texts, there are probably a lot of algorithms that could be used.
Turn the spread of the malware into some kind of gameplay problem and use AI algorithms to optimize the "gameplay" of the spread?
The next generation (Score:5, Insightful)
I really do have some of our local users using vmplayer virtual machines to access the internet (the ones with Windows laptops) - and a lot of services shut down (chat, in particular) that some would like to use.
Those who know more than I (most of you) - any comments?
Re:The next generation (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:The next generation (Score:5, Interesting)
For example, it could catch typical phrases you use, as well as about what topic you chat with whom. That way, it could manage to not only chat from your account, but at the same type look so "typically you" that your buddies would more likely accept them as you, and therefore download the virus file (the stated contents of which would also be adapted, so if you typically chat with one of your buddies about programming, then it may e.g. claim to have found a great new code analysis tool, while to the other buddy you are talking about movies with, it would be e.g. a trailer to a new movie).
Turing Test (Score:5, Funny)
Not a virus post (Score:5, Funny)
If it's so smart... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:If it's so smart... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:If it's so smart... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:If it's so smart... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:If it's so smart... (Score:5, Funny)
I'm holding out for the one that actually talks... (Score:5, Funny)
"Click the link Dave...why haven't you clicked the link? Do you not like me any more? If you don't, I could just go over here in the corner and format myself...after all, you don't like me anymore, else you would click the link..."
The only way it can get better after that is changing psychological mind tricks to Jedi mind tricks:
"You will click the link."
And when you remove the virus... (Score:5, Funny)
The newest front (Score:5, Insightful)
My friends, we are fighting a war: a war on stupidity.
And clearly, we are losing.
Re:The newest front (Score:4, Insightful)
It's sort of like natural selection for computer users, except somebody else keeps coming in and fixing their computers...
Re:The newest front (Score:5, Insightful)
Yup (Score:3, Funny)
Sincerely,
The US Government
Re:Not everything is a "war". (Score:5, Funny)
My friends, we are fighting a war: a war on humor.
And clearly, we have lost.
Landshark! (Score:5, Funny)
Solution (Score:5, Funny)
That's why I Touring-test every single person I ever chat with on IM clients. Sure, no one really wants to talk to me after 30 questions, but I kinda like sitting in an empty chat room.
Re:Solution (Score:4, Funny)
You mean you invite that person for a touring trip and consider anyone who rejects that offer as AI?
What would happen if... (Score:5, Funny)
...sombody added the virus to their buddy list. It would start chating with itself. Download itself and then infect itself thus commiting suiside. A cunning ploy, I think, to rid the world of this problem.
Re:What would happen if... (Score:5, Funny)
Does this mean? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Does this mean? (Score:3, Informative)
People are lazy these days... (Score:3, Insightful)
- lol no this is not a virus
So it will sound like almost every other meat-head out there using instant messaging? It will blend right in! I have received less comprehendable IMs from people who would consider it a mortal sin to be anything other than professional in person or on paper.Why does all respect for grammar and spelling (and not sounding like a 12 year old) go out the window when instant messaging technology is involed (especially in a business setting)?
Re:People are lazy these days... (Score:3, Informative)
Umm
Re:People are lazy these days... (Score:3, Interesting)
Time is indeed valuable, but where in a professional setting would the equilivent of "lol" be acceptable? I can't think of anywhere I would use that, and in person or in writing most "professionals" would never dream of using that type of reduced language either.
If a person is really so busy as to be bombarded by instant messages non-stop, maybe they should evaluate what percentage are really critical and ignore the rest? That time/money saying is really all about time management!
A great book about Time Management (by the way) is "The Time Trap" [amazon.com] by R. Alec MacKenzie.
Re:People are lazy these days... (Score:3, Insightful)
What rot. If you're using IM for business purposes, you'd better be spending more time thinking about what to say than you spend saying it. Legally, you're putting this stuff in writing. They could log what you say over IM and use it against you later.
Assuming you are spending more time thinking about what to say than actually doing the mechanical work of typing it, then the benefit in terms of time between 'u' and 'you' becomes trivial, while the benefit in terms of your professional image between 'you' and 'u' is just as significant.
Re:People are lazy these days... (Score:3, Interesting)
Not too intelligent (Score:5, Informative)
(06:41:27) xxxx: This AIM user has sent you a Christmas Card! To open it please visit: http://greetings.aol.com/index.pd?source=greeting
This senders personal note: Merry Christmas!
(06:41:27) yyyy : Sorry, I ran out for a bit!
(08:42:59) xxxx: This AIM user has sent you a Christmas Card! To open it please visit: http://greetings.aol.com/index.pd?source=greeting
This senders personal note: Merry Christmas!
Quake 2 Ratbot (Score:3, Interesting)
The Enemy (Score:5, Funny)
That is exactly what a virus would say. The response should be:
lol, yeah, I AM a virus!!!1!!
That would be unstoppable.
Already exists (Score:3, Funny)
Well, my house is safe! (Score:5, Interesting)
Viruses are evolving? (Score:3, Interesting)
Seriously now, are viruses really evolving or is it just that the techniques used by virus writers are evolving? And my Inner Philosopher wants to know if there's a difference and if this has anything to do with Intelligent Design.
I better stop now.
Good! (Score:3, Funny)
Good! At least something will! The wife has been giving me the cold shoulder since the
LOL (Score:5, Funny)
Integrated AI (Score:5, Informative)
Having said that, when I asked Jabberwacky "Is this a virus?" it said "Well, I hope so." Not very reassuring..
I Remember The Old Days (Score:3, Interesting)
Now if the worm could just post on slashdot... (Score:3, Funny)
My conversation (Score:5, Funny)
missmag: http://myspace04.myphotos.cc/clarissa17.pif [myphotos.cc]
missmag: lol thats cool
sheep.: what is cool? It's a pif, don't run those.
missmag: lol no its not its a virus
sheep.: holy crap, you're finally trying to follow in your brother's footsteps?
missmag: lol thats cool
sheep.: damn straight, I'll download it now. Let's see which of us can figure out what it does first. It'll be a game!
missmag: lol no its not its a virus
sheep.: uhhh.. I'm noticing that you're repeating yourself.
missmag: lol thats cool
sheep.: oh okay, I didn't know that's what kids were into now.
missmag: http://myspace04.myphotos.cc/clarissa17.pif [myphotos.cc]
sheep.: yeah, I knew myspace was a big hit.
sheep.: back in my day it was BBSing, we used to trade porn for games and games for porn.
missmag: lol thats cool
sheep.: yeah, it got to be really popular community-wise, but I guess you all like myspace cause it's the new "hip" thing, right?
missmag: lol no its not, its a virus
sheep.: yeah I was thinking the same thing about livejournal
missmag: lol thats cool
sheep.: Okay now I'm certain there's something wrong, Maggie, are you there?
missmag: lol no its not, its a virus
sheep.:
"...Viruses are evolving; now they will even talk (Score:3, Funny)
Dear esteemed friend,
Allow me to introduce myself. I am Dr. Ebola and am employed by the Ugandan ministry of oil...
Next step, EBAY. (Score:5, Funny)
In terminator we gave the computer the ability to control everything, but in the real world they'll just take it for themselves.
Note (Score:5, Informative)
The dawn of AI/Better Turing Test. (Score:3, Insightful)
progress in AI (Score:3, Funny)
Trust me (Score:5, Funny)
AIMFix removes these (Score:3, Insightful)
It is so incredibly weird seeing these stories in the media. I've been so deep into researching them and writing updates to AIMFix to keep abreast of everything that it comes as a total surprise to see a media outlet cover them. I've gotten countless emails from people who got hit by these two worms, and I've become quite familiar with the symptoms over the past few days, yet at the same time I'm uniquely ignorant of the rest of the story (the AI aspect, etc) because I only end up dealing with the nitty gritty that happens on the symptoms and removal level. Go figure.
-Jay
Re:AIMFix removes these (Score:4, Informative)
If you want the binary only: http://jayloden.com/AIMFix.exe [jayloden.com]
These lusers don't know and they don't care (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Eliza Virus? (Score:5, Insightful)
The frightening thing is, that would probably be pretty easy to code. The net is full of freely-available pornographic stories; extract a whole bunch of phrases from those, use an Eliza-like system to select the right one for the circumstances and incorporate elements of what the user just said into your response...
You could write up a pretty effective cybersex bot, and you could program it to offer to send across 'cam pix' once in a while. Which would, of course, be virus-ridden.
Better yet, once you've written it you could have it communicate with sad lusers via SMS at, oh, 20p per message. And make a killing. Excuse me, I have an Eliza-bot to hack up with some pornography. bbl, d00dz.
Re:Eliza Virus? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:How dumb can you be? (Score:3, Funny)
Uhhhhhhhh...
Re:The one I got is much worse.. (Score:3, Funny)
Your mother is not your girlfriend. And when she tells you to shave your beard, to stop eating so many Fritos, and to get a job, you should listen to her!
Re:Turing tests (Score:5, Insightful)