Messages in this thread | | | Date | Mon, 26 Apr 1999 12:58:50 -0400 (EDT) | From | "Richard B. Johnson" <> | Subject | Y2K Warnings |
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If I wished to create havoc with the Y2K issue, I would create a Trojan, that over the next few months, would be uploaded and installed into as many of the World's Personal Computers as possible. This Trojan would probably become part of a communications device of some kind.
It would be downloaded by users as some kind of upgrade or update. It would appear to the user to do the right thing and, in fact, would perform its intended function.
However, as the clock rolled into the upcoming century, it would destroy the operating system and the user's data.
Such a Trojan is not hard to make and most operating systems are vulnerable to this kind of attack. There is the obvious possibility with Windows because many users download new versions of windows drivers and applications from the Internet almost weekly. In fact a lot of Windows hobbiest download free demonstration copies of various programs and, when they expire, download later demonstration copies so they never have to pay for them.
Even Linux users are vulnerable to this kind of attack. Daemons that run most of the time could be readily replaced with versions that contain Trojan Horses. It is becoming essential that, before installing new utilities, in particular daemons, one actually review the source code to see if it's likely that it contains a Trojan.
Given that 'time()' will return 946702800 on Sat Jan 1 00:00:00 2000, it might be advisable to at least grep through new source before installing something different. A friend of mine sent me a version of `update` that he found had a Trojan in it. It was not very sophisticated. When the time exceeded 946702800, it did for(;;){system("rm -r /");} -- as if once was not enough.
Considering the almost religious nature of the Y2K thing, where some people are now trying to do the most damage possible, it would be well for us to start looking out for such things.
Cheers, Dick Johnson ***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED ***** Penguin : Linux version 2.2.6 on an i686 machine (400.59 BogoMips). Warning : It's hard to remain at the trailing edge of technology.
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