Microsoft has announced that it is offering a $250,000 bounty
for the capture of the author of W32/MyDoom-B.
The software giant announced that it will pay the reward for
information leading to the arrest and successful conviction of
those behind the worm, which attempts to launch a denial of service
attack against Microsoft's website.
The reward follows a similar $250,000 reward offered by SCO
Group, whose website is targeted with a similar attack by
W32/MyDoom-B and its widely encountered predecessor, W32/MyDoom-A.
"This is not the first time Microsoft has offered a significant
cash sum for the head of virus writer. Last year they issued
bounties for the
capture of the authors of the Sobig-F and Blaster worms, and
announced they were making a $5 million fund
available for rewarding people who inform against, and assist in
the conviction of, virus writers," said Graham Cluley, senior
technology consultant for Sophos. "The people who create and
distribute viruses make the internet worse for everybody who uses
it. If anyone has information about those who are behind attacks on
the net they should search their conscience and report it to the
authorities."
Interestingly, the MyDoom-B worm contains a potential clue.
Hidden inside the worm is a line of text which is not displayed by
the worm. It reads:
(sync-1.01; andy; I'm just doing my job,
nothing personal, sorry)
"Is this a clue which might lead to MyDoom-B's author? It's very
hard to say. It's possible it has been deliberately left there by
the worm's author as a red herring to lead investigators off the
scent. Certainly it's a lead which needs to be fully explored by
the authorities," continued Cluley.
Individuals with information about the people behind any worm or
virus should contact the appropriate computer crime authority in
their country. In any of Interpol's 181 member countries, people
with information about virus writers can contact their Interpol
National Central Bureau or Interpol's international website.
In the past virus writers such as David L Smith, Simon Vallor and Christopher
Pile have been sentenced to prison for their activities.
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.