Re: Symantec detected Slammer worm "hours" before

[Etaoin Shrdlu <shrdlu () deaddrop org>]

Sean Donelan wrote:
> Wow, Symantec is making an amazing claim.  They were able to detect
> the slammer worm "hours" before.  Did anyone receive early alerts from
> Symantec about the SQL slammer worm hours earlier?  Academics have
> estimated the worm spread world-wide, and reached its maximum scanning
> rate in less than 10 minutes.

I am still of the belief that it was released in direct reaction to the
worldwide message from Bill Gates <BillGates () chairman microsoft com>,
entitled "Security in a Connected World," and sent to all sorts of people
who NEVER asked to be on his silly list (me, for example). My timestamp for
the email says: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 11:06:50 (PST, give or take a few). Hmmmm,
how close in time to the appearance of the worm that is...

I can just picture the annoyance of the worm author, who then said to
himself "I'll show him security all righty." Perhaps it was something he'd
been working on the night before. It wasn't that complex, after all, and
really not destructive, if you don't count the annoyance factor. Just the
same, I've had my excitement for the year, I don't really want to see
another.

Bill? If you're out there, don't send out any more unsolicited newsletters,
ok?

--
Open source should be about giving away things voluntarily. When
you force someone to give you something, it's no longer giving, it's
stealing. Persons of leisurely moral growth often confuse giving with
taking.    -- Larry Wall