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- - who can we rat out?? (https://thetfp.com/tfp/general-discussion/34576-who-can-we-rat-out.html)

who can we rat out??

i wouldnt mind getting a piece of that 5 million, how about you?

http://money.cnn.com/2003/11/05/tech...ex.htm?cnn=yes

makes me wish i knew malicious programmers that i didn't like.

Quote:

Microsoft: Bounty hunter
The world's No. 1 software company announces a $5M reward program to help catch virus authors.

November 5, 2003: 1:12 PM EST
By Paul R. La Monica, CNN/Money Senior Writer

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Attention virus writers. Microsoft is putting a bounty on your heads.

The world's largest software company announced Wednesday in Washington that it is creating an anti-virus reward program, backed by $5 million of its cash, to help law enforcement agencies catch the authors of computer worms.

As the first part of the program, Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates) announced two $250,000 rewards, a total of $500,000, for information that leads to the arrest of the writers of two nasty computer worms -- the Blaster worm and SoBig.F e-mail virus -- that crippled many PCs running on the Microsoft Windows operating system this summer. Microsoft did not announce specific plans for the remaining $4.5 million in the reward program.

"These are real crimes that disrupt the lives of real people," said Brad Smith, Microsoft senior vice president and general counsel.

But will a bounty actually work? Some tech observers were skeptical.

"This could totally backfire," said Richard Williams, strategist for Summit Analytic Partners, a research firm that focuses on software. "Virus writers are very much driven by the same motivation that makes people climb mountains. To put a bounty on their heads will just increase their notoriety and increase their ego."

Still, others thought that the lure of riches could spur more hackers to give information to law enforcers about those responsible for the most nefarious worms and viruses.

"This could increase the likelihood that virus writers will get caught," said Joe Wilcox, an analyst with Jupiter Research. "The Web is like the Wild Wild West. Back then they had 'Wanted' posters and rewards. In a way, this is kind of like that. The virus writers are the gunslingers of the modern age."

The Redmond, Wash.-based software maker has been suffering from bad publicity since the outbreak of Blaster and SoBig.F in August and early September. Another worm, dubbed Nachi, also plagued users of Microsoft software during the summer.

During Microsoft's latest quarterly earnings conference call last month, Chief Financial Officer John Connors said that security for its customers was now Microsoft's No. 1 priority.

The establishment of a bounty could be a quick way to address the problem and stem some of the backlash. Steve Jillings, president and CEO of FrontBridge Technologies, an e-mail security firm, said that Microsoft's reward program could help deter some virus writers but added that bounties were not a complete solution.

"This is a Band-Aid that does not fix the core root of the problem. People don't look to Microsoft as a trusted security source," said Jillings.

Microsoft's Smith stressed that the company is continuing to work on enhanced security features for current editions of Windows as well as for the next version of its operating system, called Longhorn, that is due out in 2005. He added that Microsoft, which had more than $51 billion in cash as of the end of October, would commit more financial resources to the security problem.

"If we need to spend more money, we will spend more money," said Smith.

Microsoft bought the assets of a small Romanian anti-virus software developer, GeCAD Software, in June, and says it plans to use GeCAD's technology to develop its own anti-virus products.

Still, some have argued that Microsoft may be better off acquiring a larger anti-virus firm, such as Symantec (SYMC: Research, Estimates) or Network Associates (NET: Research, Estimates).

Shares of Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates) were flat in afternoon trading Wednesday. The stock has gained just 2 percent year-to-date, lagging the strong performance of many other large tech stocks during this year's rally.

well, i sure would love to know who started those viruses.
but i would have second thoughts about ratting them out.
especially to Microsoft.

i wonder if this tactic will provoke these virus writers into further action?
hope not.

i think offering a reward for their capture is an interesting strategy.
can anyone tell me if its one thats been used (or has been successful) before?

It was me ... I admit to it all ... now can I have the cash??

I know a couple people who are capable of making a virus. Too bad I know they didn't do it, cuz I would squeal on them like a stuck pig for 5 Million :D

hmmm interesting way to try and get rid of the virus problem...

instead of investing 5million into making windows less suseptible to viruses... they put 5 million into getting rid of the people who write the viruses....

Hey for all you know they could engineer holes into the software on purpose.

Imagine we had no more viruses... where would the antivirus industry go?
/paranoid (but it could happen...)

Btw it's not a 5 million dollar bounty, it's just 5 million dollars in total rewards for catching virus authors.

Social corruption as its finest...Powers that be, wanting you to squeal on your neighbor, it sure sounds to me like something a society did about 60 years ago.

If it works, all hail them, gotta be a good thing, except people might write virus's just to claim the bounty

hackers only rat out other hackers if they're enemies... and even then, there's a code. you just don't do it. i guarantee if someone rats a hacker out, their lives will be miserable until they die. imagine having several thousand pissed-off hackers all screaming for your blood for betraying them? heh, not a good thing.

Wow, "bounty hunters..."

"Longhorn..."

It's almst like Microsoft is trying to tell us their operating system is some kind of Wild West darwinian nightmare.

Let's see.

We're Microsoft. We issue hole filled, operating systems. Instead of spending money to write better code, let's chase after the folks who are exposing our crappy code!

True marketing genius!

I'd rat them out if I knew who. My computer didn't go down - or our home network for that matter but that was because we took precautions and we have hardware and software firewalls.

Every one of my friends (except my bro who's a computer nut too and took precautions) had trouble. I had to help one and the rest managed to find someone who was able to come help them. These are just small people who don't know much about computers, aren't making money off them or have a small business that makes their computer so very necessary. These people aren't deserving in the least of dealing with this problem.

I don't know how programming works now adays - I know Dos and new some C+ but that's it. I'm not up on the new stuff but the way it used to be it was so VERY easy to leave a hole somewhere. I don't see how they could get their programs to be perfectly flawless. Sometimes it does seem a bit set up but from what I know I somewhat doubt that they are planning this sort of thing.

I wouldn't rat out any way, and I know malicious programmers. I guess that's where the trouble is. The people the programmers trust to talk to are usually trusted for a reason right?