MyDoom writers slip CV in code
We want job in anti-virus industry. No chance, is the reply.
By Staff, Computing South Africa | Computing South Africa | Published: 10:05, 14 September 2004
The creators of the latest MyDoom worm have embedded a secret message inside their code, asking for a job in the anti-virus industry.
Researchers at Sophos, have discovered that embedded inside the code is a message to the anti-virus community. It isn't displayed on infected users' computers and reads: "We searching 4 work in AV industry."
The W32/MyDoom-V and W32/MyDoom-U worms spread via e-mail as a file attachment. If innocent users launch the malicious file, the worms activate and attempts to download a backdoor Trojan horse called Surila.
"It is hard to tell if the creators of these new versions of the MyDoom worm are being serious, but there is no way that anybody in the anti-virus industry would touch them with a bargepole," says Brett Myroff, CEO of NetXactics, a South African distributor for Sophos. "It is very simple - if you write a virus, we will never ever employ you. Not only is it deeply unethical to write malicious code, but it raises issues as to whether you could ever be trusted to develop the software which protects millions of users around the world from attack every day."
Sophos believes the skills required to write reliable anti-virus software are very different from those shown by a virus writer.
"Anti-virus software is much more difficult to write than a computer virus. Anti-virus developers have to ensure that their software works reliably, detecting over 90,000 computer viruses on a wide variety of operating systems and network configurations without making mistakes or causing problems. Virus writers do not care if their code crashes or causes incompatibilities - you do not have to be a genius to write a virus," he added.
