Re: Grid computing through malware

[flurdoing <flur () d1f org>]

Hello Alex,

Not only is this scenario plausible, it has actually happened in the 
past. There have been numerous cases where controllers of botnets have 
installed distributed computing clients such as SETI@Home and 
'distributed.net' on machines that they had control of.

I think that the key point from the perspective of propagation is that 
the distributed computing client will rarely be the only payload dropped 
onto a compromised system as it only enables limited utilization of the 
host. What is more commonly the case is that a more comprehensive 
control client such as a bot or remote administration client is dropped 
first to give the controller full control of the hosts, after which 
further clients will be dropped depending on the desires of the said 
controller.

The scenario you describe could be very interesting given that the lack 
of a more common controller client would make the intrusion 
significantly harder to detect (I doubt that any malware scanning 
technology would consider a grid computing client to be malicious... 
yet). Also, if the client is tweaked for this scenario, it could be such 
that resources are only utilized when the machine is idle- further 
decreasing the likelihood of detection. Ultimately, it'll be a firewall 
or IDS that brings the system down as the grid client will likely 
generate lots of network traffic.

Good luck with your project.
flurdoing



Alex Nedelcu wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I would like to build my license project on the grid computing
> subject. I want to add a twist to it though, for this i was hoping for
> some input on this scenario:
>
> Say that a new vulnerability is discovered and a malicious attacker
> uses that vulnerability to install an inconspicuous grid client that
> uses the system's resources to compute whatever you throw at it. Would
> the combined power of thousands or even millions of systems be enough
> to break a secured online transaction?
>
> Thanks.
>
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education and the case study affords you unmatched consulting experience. 
Using interactive e-Learning technology, you can earn this esteemed degree, 
without disrupting your career or home life.

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