Massive Spam Shot of "Storm Trojan" 260
jcatcw writes "Postini has already counted nearly 5 million copies of the spam in the last 24 hours, and calculated that the run currently accounts for 87% of all malware being spread through email. 'Expect this to grow much larger,' a Postini spokesman said; 'It should top out at 60 million messages within the next 24 hours.' It's the largest attack in the last 12 months, and more than three times the volume of the two biggest in recent memory: a pair of blasts in December and January. The spam carries a ZIP file attachment posing as a patch with subjects such as Worm Alert!, Worm Detected, Spyware Detected!, or Virus Activity Detected."
I got one, I got one!!! (Score:5, Informative)
I saw one of these yesterday (Score:4, Informative)
We all had a chuckle at how stupid someone would be to actually do that - then we realized grandma probably would, not knowning any better. All the more reason to get grandma off windows and onto at least a Mac, if not Linux.
Simple problem (Score:3, Informative)
One sort of computer doesn't need to be administered any more than your toaster or TV needs to be administered. If the programming cannot be changed by the user in any way and all it does is read email and browse the web. Period. Maybe play some music sometimes. Ideally, such a device has its programming in ROM (not flash) and cannot be changed in any way. No instructions are ever put on R/W memory, ever. Completely and utterly secure the way your toaster is. How many people have found exploits for a toaster?
Windows is perfectly secure when it is properly set up and administered. The problem is that you can't install software on such a computer and you can run all sorts of fun applications. Gee, isn't that too bad. One solution is to require every user to either (a) switch to a appliance that cannot be compromised, (b) pay the ISP to administer their computer or (c) pass a test to be qualified to have a general-purpose computer connected to the Internet. And yes, the test should be similar to the FCC license for HAM radio: long, incredibly detailed and most people can't pass it without lots of work.
The operating system cannot be made secure from users adding software if they are supposed to add software. But users aren't qualified to add software to their computers and if they are allowed to do so, they will add things that will eventually destroy the ability to use the Internet.
Re:Another day in the world of near-monoculture. (Score:3, Informative)
Besides, Outlook DOES warn you when you try to launch an executable! I just tried to launch VNC, and it says, "WARNING! This file may contain a virus that can be harmful to your computer. You must save this file to disk before it can be opened. It is important to be VERY certain that this file is safe before you open it." It then does not let you launch the executable, but instead prompts you for a save location.
Nope (Score:3, Informative)
I have seen a couple of copies of the spam itself, but nothing major.