AP story on Msoft blocking Mydoom.B

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
Date: Wed, 04 Feb 2004 00:00:32 -0500
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From: Mary Shaw <mary.shaw () cs cmu edu>
Subject: AP story on Msoft blocking Mydoom.B
To: dave () farber net

Dave,

Here's the AP story on Microsoft resisting the Mydoom.B virus attack.  The
sentence, "Microsoft did say that computers infected with the virus would
not be able to access Microsoft's Web site." is particularly interesting.
How do you suppose they detect infection in order to block access?

Mary

======================================

Microsoft Web Sites Resist Virus Attack



Email this Story

Feb 3, 6:49 PM (ET)

By ALLISON LINN

SEATTLE (AP) - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) said it had fought off an attempted
software virus attack Tuesday that was aimed at shutting down some of the
company's Web sites.

Stephen Toulouse, a security program manager for Microsoft, said the
company's Web sites ran normally throughout the day.

The virus, called "Mydoom.B," was programmed to launch an attack on
Microsoft's site Tuesday, two days after a variant shut down the Web site of
The SCO Group, a small Utah software company.

But security experts had said the Mydoom.B variant was spreading much less
quickly than Mydoom.A, the version that attacked SCO Group.


The virus works by getting infected computers to send hundreds of thousands
of requests for the site per minute, in hopes of crippling it. Toulouse
would not detail how Microsoft had been able to ward off the attack, citing
security concerns.

Microsoft did say that computers infected with the virus would not be able
to access Microsoft's Web site. The Redmond-based company has set up an
alternative Web site, https://information.microsoft.com, for those users.

Last week, Microsoft said it would to pay $250,000 to anyone who helps
authorities find and prosecute the author of the virus. The cash reward is
the third so far under a $5 million program Microsoft announced in early
November to help U.S. authorities catch authors of unusually damaging
Internet infections aimed at consumers of the company's software products.

SCO Group had previously offered a $250,000 reward for information leading
to the arrest and conviction of the creator of the Mydoom.A version.

---

On the Net:

http://www.microsoft.com

https://information.microsoft.com

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