pcadvisor.co.uk — Hackers are using techniques popularised by developers of open-source software like Linux to improve their malicious code, a researcher at McAfee has said. Also see http://trends.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=06/07/15/1331229&from=rss on Microsoft FUD potential
Jul 17, 2006 View in Crawl 4
pcholtJul 17, 2006
Stay tuned for the response story, "Hackers eat at McDonalds"!"Many hackers and writers of malicious viruses and worms sustain their bodies using the energy provided by the McDonalds chain of restaurants... "
jlabsJul 17, 2006
"The PC Advisor article is completely misusing the terms. Hackers actually started the Open Source Movement...It's a shame how we degrade language through pop culture/ignorant media"I hate to tell you this, but the word "hacker" and "cracker" have new meanings. Just like the word "gay". In the 50's, it meant to be happy..but I don't think you would be using it in that context these days. It's not being misused..it's just the evolution of language.
whiterajahJul 18, 2006
The one thing that's interesting in this article is that crackers / hackers are now more organized and sophisticated than they were in the past. Constructing botnets is no longer just for script-kiddies swapping techniques on IRC channels, but for real organized criminals using the best tools available to them to co-ordinate their efforts. And some of the tools happen to be open source project management techniques. The targets are still unsecured Windows systems, though.
gardaJul 18, 2006
Something boils inside of me just a little when i read s**t like that.It's the same thing as saying that there's something wrong with Ford because a crazy guy decided to run down people in a Ford. Or that K-Mart is an irresponsible company because the steak knife that somebody used in a murder was bought from K-Mart.I've got something for you, I bet that >90% of all the child porn on the Internet is being viewed by people using Microsoft Windows. I think that everybody should be enraged that M$ is supplying the people exploiting young children with the technological means to do so.
nofxjunkeeJul 18, 2006
This is complete BS. OMG THEY'RE USING CVS! ... I'm pretty sure that Windows & Mac OS dev teams keep their s**t in version control as well. Pretty much any significant project does, at least the sensible ones. Whether they release the code or not.Poor McAfee can't keep up with them and is looking for a scapegoat.Even if they use open code to create viruses, open code allows anyone to learn regardless of intent. Like a library.
sailorJul 20, 2006
This propaganda brought to you by open source haters everywhere...