Microsoft Bounty?

[megamanS]

Microsoft is putting out a bounty on virus writers?

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20031105/wr_nm/tech_microsoft_bounty_dc

 

[Smilin]

That's an unexpected twist. Time will tell if it works or not but I'd certainly not want to be on the wrong end of MS's wallet.

Clickable link of the above

 

[bsobel]

Maybe a good post for OT, but its not really an OS question 😉

 

[LiLithTecH]

Maybe Microsoft should use the **REWARD** money to hire
competent Programers who can write CODE that does not
allow Malicious Hacks into their Poorly Coded Programs.

Just a Thought......





Windows [n.]
A thirty-two bit extension and GUI shell to a sixteen bit patch to an eight bit
operating system originally coded for a four bit microprocessor and sold by a
two-bit company that can't stand one bit of competition."

 

[Smilin]

Could you BE any more of a troll?? rofl

 

[CTho9305]

Originally posted by: LiLithTecH

Windows [n.]
A thirty-two bit extension and GUI shell to a sixteen bit patch to an eight bit
operating system originally coded for a four bit microprocessor and sold by a
two-bit company that can't stand one bit of competition."

Intel released the 8080 in 1974, and the 8086 in 1976. MS-DOS 1.0 came in 1981. Find a better 4-bit part for your troll 😉.

 

[KF]

"put a $500,000 bounty on the heads of the writers of two computer bugs which infected more than half a million computers earlier this year"

linkified

I don't have any huge animosity to these programmers, since the two viruses aren't destructive (they tell me), but I could use $250,000. 🙂

I disagree that this is not an OS topic. These work by running themselves on their own. They have worked themselves into the OS. This not like a normal app.

I learned a little more about worms since I recently got one. I have to say I'm amazed to find these possibilities. I can understand that exploiting bugs could crash the OS. I can understand that a user might be tricked into running a malicious program. What is hard to understand is that bugs can allow unknown people at remote locations to have programs run on your computer, without your agreement, without you even knowing they are running. That should not be possible. But if we have to acknowledge that possibility, then MS should at least have in place a method that will identify everything running, and it should be verifiable that they are legitimate. Without that, no wonder these bugs explode out of control.

The trouble with Taskmanager, which is not up to the task, is it provides no real info on what is running other than an obscure name, and the average computer own/user has no means at all of knowing if the tasks are legitimate. Let the Aministrator or user approve of anything that can be run on the computer, and if it not on a known approved list, it could never run. Or if it somehow is run anyway, log it, and notify the user. At least it would be the Administrator's or user's fault if a problem resulted.

I suppose there would be some small gain in safety if worm hackers started believing they were in personal danger. But about all these two particular viruses/worms do, I understand, is point out vunerabilities in XP. It is as if some company put in a security system, someone figured a way in, left a note saying "Killroy was here" and the company put $250,000 on his head for leaving the note. What that note signified was that the company had been depending on the incompetence of burglers for its security.

 

[bjc112]

From Fox news...

Microsoft certainly can afford to pay. Its stock is worth $283 billion ? more than the value of most countries

That is unreal..

They have over 51 Billion in CASH reserves...

😛

 

[dnuggett]

Originally posted by: bjc112
From Fox news...

Microsoft certainly can afford to pay. Its stock is worth $283 billion ? more than the value of most countries

That is unreal..

They have over 51 Billion in CASH reserves...

😛

Where are you pulling that number out of? Try 6.43 billion in CASH as of quarter end 6/30/03.

 

[EeyoreX]

From Fox news...

Microsoft certainly can afford to pay. Its stock is worth $283 billion ? more than the value of most countries

That is unreal..

They have over 51 Billion in CASH reserves...

😛

Where are you pulling that number out of? Try 6.43 billion in CASH as of quarter end 6/30/03.[/quote]

Um, dude...? Where are you getting your number from? $6.43 billion cash is so far off... I can't say where the first poster got $51 billion cash reserves, but I believe it. Since I prefer not to make such statements without a link, I have provided one. For your entertainment and personal enlightenment as to the worth of Microsoft, I present the articles' headline:

Microsoft's cash reserve at $49 billion

And that is as of July 18, 2003. So, unless Microsoft made almost $42.5 billion dollars in a month......

\Dan

<edit>fixed link</edit>

 

[InlineFive]

Now people will write virus' and submit them to Microsoft to try and make tons of money. 😛