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| Microsoft is working with law enforcement
agencies investigating the Sasser outbreak |
Microsoft has announced that it is working closely with law
enforcement agencies, including the Northwest CyberCrime Taskforce
(a joint effort between the FBI and US Secret Service) in an
attempt to try and identify those responsible for the widespread Sasser internet
worm.
The Sasser worm has spread widely around the world, breaking
into innocent computer systems via a critical security hole
in Microsoft's operating system software. Once it has infected
computers it looks for other vulnerable PCs to infect via the
internet, and can disrupt normal computer use.
"The Sasser author is a common criminal," said Graham Cluley,
senior technology consultant for Sophos. "Just because the crime is
being committed via computers doesn't make it any more glamorous or
acceptable. The worm is disrupting businesses and home computer
users worldwide, stopping them from working and communicating with
friends and family. It is in the interests of all computer users
that the people who write and distribute viruses are
apprehended."
In the past Microsoft has offered substantial rewards for
the successful capture and conviction of those responsible for
writing viruses, but with no success to date.
"Offering rewards may tempt those in the computer underground to
'spill the beans' and reveal who is responsible for some of these
worms. It will be interesting to see if Microsoft offers a reward
on this occasion. It makes sense for Microsoft to do all they can
to catch those responsible for writing the Sasser worm as they are
on the receiving end of negative press regarding the security of
their products," 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 USA, the FBI or Secret Service can be contacted via any
local field office.
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.