[Mark Kennedy, a software architect, chimes in:] And our problem is that when you go that deep to try to extract it, you can render the machine unusable. Then you get blamed, rather than the bad guy. ... the bad actors are getting really bad. |
[When malicious code could cause serious damage, Symantec and its peers often provide information to law-enforcement agencies such as the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.] If they need an analysis done on a new threat, we'll help them, ... We provide them with intelligence that we have, but we don't chase criminals. |
Anybody who is directly connected to the Internet through cable modems or DSL is extremely susceptible to these back-door programs, ... We have seen many, many attacks coming on to those people's machines. |
Anybody who is directly connected to the Internet through cable modems or DSL is extremely susceptible to these back-door programs. We have seen many, many attacks coming on to those people's machines. |
Are we still at the leading edge of this threat? ... I mean, is it a fringe thing, or are we seeing it accelerate? |
Basically, it stores deleted files in a hidden directory. It's old technology designed for a different era, like Windows 95 and 98. |
But it's certainly not the dam bursting. |
By enabling an infected machine to be remotely controlled, this threat opens up the user's identity and computer for potentially malicious purposes. |
Each company has a different view of the world, ... That's why we try to have ratings based on the virus itself. |
Even if data is safe, users infected should get a removal tool to clean and repair their systems. |
Everyone is realizing that no one company or one bank can do it all. No one group can do it alone. |
From a home-user point of view, I would not panic or worry. But it's a good opportunity to go back and look at your computer practices and see if there's something that can be changed to make the computer a little safer. |
I think that probably the overarching theme we're looking at is that crime for profit motivation has really found the Internet. |
It has been a nonevent. We have been tracking our consumer tech support: Less than a handful of people worldwide have called in saying they might be infected. |
It was designed for a different era. With threats increasingly resorting to stealth, we decided it's a greater risk to hide the directory than to open it. |