Microsoft
pledges big $ for virus author's head
MyDoom
has Bill Gates quaking.
The internet worm has been able to draw a
potential $500,000
from Microsoft and SCO
because
MyDoom, also known as ScoBig
in homage to both fellow worm Sobig.F and SCO, is truly worrying the two
companies. Each has put up $250,000 to find the author of MyDoom, which is
now the fastest spreading e-mail worm in history. There are two variations
of the worm, A and B. Mydoom.B was originally thought to be the more
dangerous of the two, but Finland’s F-Secure said it hasn’t spread as
much as expected. Meanwhile the commercial world is doing everything it
can to protect itself from the official launch of the worm’s
international denial-of-service attack from each computer it has infected.
F-Secure said it is estimated that between 20 and 30 percent of all e-mail
traffic currently originates from the worm.
Academy
member sued by Sony & Warner Bros.
Former actor Carmine Caridi, who has been identified as the
Oscar screener leak, got off the hook with authorities, but not without a
catch. The 70-year-old Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences
member is headed to court after Warner Bros. and Sony sued him for
copyright infringement on Wednesday. The media giants slapped a suit on
him because as an Academy member, Caridi had to sign an agreement saying
he would not share his screeners with anyone else. Caridi violated this
promise when he gave screeners to Russell Sprague, an Illinois resident
who alledgedly was helping convert the VHS screeners into digital versions
and making them available to file-swapping services. Warner Bros. and Sony
are both asking for a minimum of $150,000 in statutory damages for each
film, as well as any profits the pirates may have made. Investigations of
Caridi and other suspected leaks
are still underway.
Bada
bling: Organized crime sacks online bettors
Organized crime has moved from the streets to the screens.
Online gangs are attacking betting sites right before the Super Bowl,
using scare tactics to get what they want. Britain’s National Hi-Tech
Crime Unit (NHTCU) said it is looking into a string of attacks and threats
on companies in the U.K. However, the attacks also have spread to sites
based in the Caribbean and continental Europe. These gangs have been using
so-called denial-of-service attacks, which can shut down networks due to a
deluge of fraudulent data requests, to extort businesses. Curacao-based
VIP Management Services, which controls seven gambling sites, was the
victim of such an attack. The latest attack on Monday demanded Management
Services hand over the money, or it would go down for the Super Bowl.
Police are asking businesses to come forward to aid in the investigation.
Lament
of a pornster: My copyrights are toast
Internet pirates are invading new territory. The music
industry has been struck, the movie business is fighting back, and now the
pornography industry is on the hit list. The California publisher of
Perfect 10 magazine and web site sued Visa, MasterCard and other financial
institutions on Wednesday, saying they assisted in the unauthorized sale
of pirated sex images found on the internet. Perfect 10 decided to go
directly to the credit card payment associations to put an end to the sale
of pirated erotica. Publisher Norman Zada said he has seen losses of $29
million since he started his business in 1996. Zada blasted competitors
who use stolen images from Perfect 10 for their own profit, saying they
were the reason for his declining success.
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