TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Re: Spammers Jump on Latest MS Hole

Re: Spammers Jump on Latest MS Hole

hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
13 Sep 2006 07:16:24 -0700

Paul F. Roberts wrote:

> Some of those fears were confirmed when reports surfaced, just days
> after the Aug. 8 patch release, that computers infected with malicious
> IRC 'bot' programs

Some questions about today's technology:

What is a "bot" program, as opposed to other kinds of computer
programs?

What allows and causes a foreign unauthorized program to start
execution on a computer where it doesn't belong? In other words, who
presses the start button on a supposedly personal computer to run
sabotage? I don't understand how some external person can gain
control of my computer, as if my neighbor could drive my automobile
from his kitchen window.

> were scanning the Internet for Windows
> systems that had the MS06-040 vulnerability

What allows a private computer to be scanned by external means (like
Spock using his scanners on a planet far below) so that its internal
software may be examined and manipulated?

> and then using publicly available code

Who wrote such code?

Lastly, why do such vulnerabilities exist in the first place? I keep
reading how the present Windows operating system is old; shouldn't all
the necessary fixes be developed by now?

How much does it cost for companies to keep applying these patches
every week?

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