Tech: Virus Writer Arrested But ...

Subject: Tech: Virus Writer Arrested But ...
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 06:07 AM

Although this is more of a news report than a Tech Help, my suggestion would be that it remain "up top" for a while to be seen. It may then be appropriate for a clone to "BS" it.

WHY CYBER CRIME PERSISTS, is quite aptly illustrated by the following news report:

Japanese police arrest computer virus maker

Student suspected of creating, spreading the "Harada virus"
By Yuri Kageyama
The Associated Press
updated 12:45 p.m. CT, Fri., Jan. 25, 2008

TOKYO - A Japanese man suspected of creating a computer virus had to be arrested on a copyright infringement charge, police said Friday, in a case that highlights the nation's lack of laws to crack down on the sometimes malicious computer programs.

Masato Nakatsuji, 24, a graduate student at Osaka Electro-Communication University, was arrested Thursday on charges of illegally copying and distributing an image from the Japanese animation film "Clannad" showing a woman walking amid falling cherry blossoms.

But Nakatsuji is also suspected of embedding in that image the so called "Harada virus" — one of Japan's "Big Three" viruses, a Kyoto police officer said on customary condition of anonymity.

Although hundreds of thousands of computer viruses have wreaked havoc around the world going back more than two decades, Japan has been slow in getting legislation passed to crack down on those that make or spread the potentially destructive programs.

In the latest case, police considered other charges, including damage to property and obstructing business, before deciding that copyright violation charges would best hold up in court, the officer said.

Nakatsuji was in police custody and not immediately available for comment. But police said he isn't contesting the charges.

Downloading the animation image with Nakatsuji's virus destroyed data and spread on the Internet information stored in computers hit by the virus, according to police.

The virus was also spread through an illegal Japanese file-sharing software program called Winny. The extent of the damage has not yet been disclosed, the Kyoto officer said.

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The only law they had to prosecute him was ... copyright infringement?????

Unfortunately, Japan is by comparison to many other countries at least aware of the damage done by malicious internet agents, and may be given credit for finding a perpetrator and "creating a charge" to potentially limit future activities.

In many countries, there is NO APPARENT AWARENESS OR CONCERN on the part of governments.

Even in the US and Western/Central Europe, laws regulating criminal and malicious acts on the internet are still at a very primitive stage.

Although "most of the internet" is still in the US and Western European countries, ONE CRIMINAL anywhere in the world can create and distribute malicious software. There are some very clever "programmers" almost anywhere one cares to look, throughout the entire world.

Current and effective Antivirus and other "anti-malware" defenses are necessary for everyone. The unprotected machine is a threat to everyone else.

And although some are less often attacked than Windows, NO OPERATING SYSTEM IS IMMUNE. Apple has released at least 60 vulnerability patches that I've heard of in the past few months, although they generally attempt to avoid publicity about them. ALL of the popular browsers have at least some patches that users should keep up to date with.

And the most important rule for every one is "DON'T BE STUPID." If it looks suspicious, in any way, just don't click.

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Virus Writer Arrested But ...
From: Rapparee
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 08:00 AM

Heck, I don't click unless I'm certain of the source (or at least 90% certain).

Subject: RE: Tech: Virus Writer Arrested But ...
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 08:23 AM

Rap -

Are you sure you're here, and that last thread click didn't take you to a phony site?

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Virus Writer Arrested But ...
From: Nick
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 08:59 AM

90%. Then your only at risk for just over 5 weeks per year :)

Only kidding.

Subject: RE: Tech: Virus Writer Arrested But ...
From: mack/misophist
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 10:12 AM

If you're really hot to check out the validity of a suspicious link, copy the link asd paste it into notepad. This will show you the actual url. If still nervous (and you probably ought to be) do a whois check on the domain name to see who really owns it. If the whois information has been supressed, you should probably forget it.

Subject: RE: Tech: Virus Writer Arrested But ...
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 10:32 AM

In Internet Explorer, if you click View and click a check mark beside "Status Bar" you get a bar at the bottom that will show you the URL of a link when you hover your mouse pointer over the link. This gives a "quick look" at where the link is going to go.

Extra caution is still recommended in the rare case when the display of the URL "runs off the end" so that it's not all visible there. If there's any question, a right-click on the link and "Copy Shortcut" will let you paste the link elsewhere. If it doesn't show the URL clearly in the paste, a right-click and "Edit Link" will let you see all the details of the link. (You can't use Edit Link on most web pages, so you have to paste it somewhere else first - like Note Pad or Word.)

John