New Botnet Is "Practically Indestructible"
- Thread starter Earnest Cavalli
- Start date
Um, y'see, it's Microsoft's customers getting the short end here. Not even "fans," we're talking companies that employ the use of Windows as a platform. And since it actually attacks the computer itself, and not Windows as an operating system, it's not even a Microsoft thing anyway. Anyone who owns a desktop PC connected to the internet is at risk here.brainslurper said:
Your gloating is misdirected. And if it was directed correctly you'd come off as even more of an asshole.
Cyber-terrorists aren't made up exclusively of 4chan users, y'know. As others have said before, this is more akin to corporate espionage than malicious "for the lulz" hobbyist activities.bjj hero said:
I'd be worried if that's what formatting actually meant. But since formatting actually means wiping the entire drive clean so that there is absolutely nothing on it, it seems to me that this thing is quite easily destructible. Not to mention all the other ways to kill such things that try to hide in the master boot record.
But yeah, doing a system restore, which is what the thing that restores Windows to its basic, default state is actually called, would not kill it. The only thing that makes this even remotely scary is that these days, the people who could kill it with no problem are smart enough to not get it on their computer in the first place, whereas all the people who would have no idea how to kill it are the ones who are going to be downloading it in the first place.
It is clever how it sabotages other malware though. Now if only someone would write something that easily goes after Macs without any antivirus protection, so all the "I have a Mac and thus am invincible herp derp" people in the world can learn to stop spouting off Apple's inaccurate ad campaigns like they're so much smarter than everyone who uses Windows because they got a Mac every time news about some new virus or other such nasty thing crops up.
And I don't want to be too mean. Don't make a virus that wipes their data or steals their bank info or anything. Just make the virus pop up a window that plays Never Gonna Give You Up and says "How do you like your 'invincible' Mac now? Better get some anti-virus software and stop acting like you're awesome on the Internet because of your choice in operating systems." every 5 minutes until they install an anti-virus program that removes it.
But yeah, doing a system restore, which is what the thing that restores Windows to its basic, default state is actually called, would not kill it. The only thing that makes this even remotely scary is that these days, the people who could kill it with no problem are smart enough to not get it on their computer in the first place, whereas all the people who would have no idea how to kill it are the ones who are going to be downloading it in the first place.
It is clever how it sabotages other malware though. Now if only someone would write something that easily goes after Macs without any antivirus protection, so all the "I have a Mac and thus am invincible herp derp" people in the world can learn to stop spouting off Apple's inaccurate ad campaigns like they're so much smarter than everyone who uses Windows because they got a Mac every time news about some new virus or other such nasty thing crops up.
And I don't want to be too mean. Don't make a virus that wipes their data or steals their bank info or anything. Just make the virus pop up a window that plays Never Gonna Give You Up and says "How do you like your 'invincible' Mac now? Better get some anti-virus software and stop acting like you're awesome on the Internet because of your choice in operating systems." every 5 minutes until they install an anti-virus program that removes it.
Boot sector viruses are also an old classic from the floppy era. I'm guessing this thing actually injects into the windows bootloader, which technically doesn't make it a proper boot virus, and while that is pretty neat, it's not really all that technically amazing. That's how most cracks for Windows work -- I'm guessing it's also going to be more difficult detecting and removing this thing from "non-genuine" Windows installations.
If it really is a boot virus, you can easily avoid this by using another bootloader, like lilo or grub (usually found on linux/bsd systems, but boots windows just fine).
If it really is a boot virus, you can easily avoid this by using another bootloader, like lilo or grub (usually found on linux/bsd systems, but boots windows just fine).
As far as I can remember a standard format will not remove your MBR. There are ways to re-write it with the console commands when you boot into repair options from the disc however.
To be completely sure though, I would personally recommend a full zero/one write pass done with the drive manufacturers own program, followed by a format with the /u switch. I'm assuming this devious bot doesn't hide in RAM so it can re-write itself, but that's easy enough to counter anyway, just turn your machine off completely at the end of the format. If you wanna be ultra paranoia sure, do it multiple times
Granted that's not exactly a standard user process, you'll need a little experience with these things, but it's not too hard either.
I like this bot, it's got character lol
To be completely sure though, I would personally recommend a full zero/one write pass done with the drive manufacturers own program, followed by a format with the /u switch. I'm assuming this devious bot doesn't hide in RAM so it can re-write itself, but that's easy enough to counter anyway, just turn your machine off completely at the end of the format. If you wanna be ultra paranoia sure, do it multiple times
Granted that's not exactly a standard user process, you'll need a little experience with these things, but it's not too hard either.
I like this bot, it's got character lol
Thank you for posting this and thereby indirectly notifying me that Volume 2 was out.ThreeKneeNick said:
On Topic: It's piss easy to blow away and rebuild a hard drive's boot record, I keep a handy little utility for doing just that on my flash stick (infrequent issues with whole disk encryption software and imaging = need to blow that away sometimes so I can bring back a backup of an encrypted computer and get it to actually boot long enough to repair the encryption that it's looking for and not finding). Would your average user ever think to try that? Probably not, but that is not "practically indestructible", just really really annoying.
I think the "practically indestructible" description comes more from how far it has already spread and that normal AV measures aren't really enough. With that many infections and the fact that it's spreading without an easy way to spot it nor a way for standard users to remove it, bringing it down is going to be an enormous, almost insurmountable task.Gildan Bladeborn said:
Just thinking aloud here but all it will take, I reckon, is one clever bastard to craft a detection and removal for it that windows won't have a fit about, then incorporate that into all popular AV's. An easy enough concept but putting it in to practice might prove to be a headache.
NpGildan Bladeborn said:
It's been a few days, i like it more than volume 1. That song in particular, it's just so beautifully creepy.
I for one welcome our new machine overlords.
psst, GLaDOS, don't kill me, I'm on your side, really!
psst, GLaDOS, don't kill me, I'm on your side, really!
I'd be more scared if I wasn't busy being impressed.
That part where it actually gets rid of malware is pretty clever.
That part where it actually gets rid of malware is pretty clever.
It depends what you define by virus. If you mean something where you go to a certain site, or open an email attachment, a virus that is invisible to the OS installs itself, and begins to infect other files which it hopes will make it to other computers, then no. Macs don't get those. What can happen, is that you download some infected or malicious software, and during the installation for that it does something bad. But it wont be able to spread via email, nor infect other files without the application open. So technically it's not actually a virus. Because 10% of computers made are manufactured by apple, you would think 10% of viruses are for mac computers, unfortunately for your argument, that is not the case.Ultratwinkie said:
Well, you would think that microsoft is getting screwed over if someone develops an indestructible botnet for their platform... While virtually any computer can get something like this, the ability for it to inject itself is much more difficult on OS X or GNU/Linux platforms.Andy of Comix Inc said: