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  3. From SlashDot: Teen makes Trojan Horse disguised as image [modified]

From SlashDot: Teen makes Trojan Horse disguised as image [modified]

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  • L Offline
    L Offline
    lost in transition
    wrote on last edited by
    #1

    Slashdot link: http://it.slashdot.org/it/07/02/22/0223239.shtml[^] News Artical: http://www.crime-research.org/news/2002/08/Mess1901.htm[^] This is diffently on to talk about. He breaks the law to catch sick people in thier sick addictions. Should he be charged for breach of privacy? The law is the law, so wrong is wrong. (I know the next question propable only U.S. folks will understand.) Could this relate to what to group that is called the 'Minute Men' (I think) that watch our southern board for people crossing the river? But then again unless they hurt someone they have done nothing wrong, right? So, unless this hacker used the information gathered to hurt someone i.e.:identity thief or retrieve money from bank accounts. Then he was done nothing wrong, right? Lastly, how do you think he hide the trojan horse in the images? -- modified at 9:25 Thursday 22nd February, 2007


    God Bless, Jason
    Programmer: A biological machine designed to convert caffeine into code.
    Developer: A person who develops working systems by writing and using software. [^]

    Z I C B S 8 Replies Last reply
    0
    • L lost in transition

      Slashdot link: http://it.slashdot.org/it/07/02/22/0223239.shtml[^] News Artical: http://www.crime-research.org/news/2002/08/Mess1901.htm[^] This is diffently on to talk about. He breaks the law to catch sick people in thier sick addictions. Should he be charged for breach of privacy? The law is the law, so wrong is wrong. (I know the next question propable only U.S. folks will understand.) Could this relate to what to group that is called the 'Minute Men' (I think) that watch our southern board for people crossing the river? But then again unless they hurt someone they have done nothing wrong, right? So, unless this hacker used the information gathered to hurt someone i.e.:identity thief or retrieve money from bank accounts. Then he was done nothing wrong, right? Lastly, how do you think he hide the trojan horse in the images? -- modified at 9:25 Thursday 22nd February, 2007


      God Bless, Jason
      Programmer: A biological machine designed to convert caffeine into code.
      Developer: A person who develops working systems by writing and using software. [^]

      Z Offline
      Z Offline
      zoid
      wrote on last edited by
      #2

      jason_lakewhitney wrote:

      Should he be charged for breach of privacy?

      Yes.

      1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • L lost in transition

        Slashdot link: http://it.slashdot.org/it/07/02/22/0223239.shtml[^] News Artical: http://www.crime-research.org/news/2002/08/Mess1901.htm[^] This is diffently on to talk about. He breaks the law to catch sick people in thier sick addictions. Should he be charged for breach of privacy? The law is the law, so wrong is wrong. (I know the next question propable only U.S. folks will understand.) Could this relate to what to group that is called the 'Minute Men' (I think) that watch our southern board for people crossing the river? But then again unless they hurt someone they have done nothing wrong, right? So, unless this hacker used the information gathered to hurt someone i.e.:identity thief or retrieve money from bank accounts. Then he was done nothing wrong, right? Lastly, how do you think he hide the trojan horse in the images? -- modified at 9:25 Thursday 22nd February, 2007


        God Bless, Jason
        Programmer: A biological machine designed to convert caffeine into code.
        Developer: A person who develops working systems by writing and using software. [^]

        I Offline
        I Offline
        Ilion
        wrote on last edited by
        #3

        "Lastly, how do you think he hide the trojan horse in the images?"

        The program, disguised as an image, allowed him to retrieve anything -- undetected -- once downloaded. He posted the image on several usenet groups used by pedophiles. In reality, the downloaded image was simply one retrieved from the user's own hard drive.

        -- modified at 9:38 Thursday 22nd February, 2007 "The law is the law, so wrong is wrong." No, the law is the law, and right is right, and the two are not at all the same.

        L D 2 Replies Last reply
        0
        • L lost in transition

          Slashdot link: http://it.slashdot.org/it/07/02/22/0223239.shtml[^] News Artical: http://www.crime-research.org/news/2002/08/Mess1901.htm[^] This is diffently on to talk about. He breaks the law to catch sick people in thier sick addictions. Should he be charged for breach of privacy? The law is the law, so wrong is wrong. (I know the next question propable only U.S. folks will understand.) Could this relate to what to group that is called the 'Minute Men' (I think) that watch our southern board for people crossing the river? But then again unless they hurt someone they have done nothing wrong, right? So, unless this hacker used the information gathered to hurt someone i.e.:identity thief or retrieve money from bank accounts. Then he was done nothing wrong, right? Lastly, how do you think he hide the trojan horse in the images? -- modified at 9:25 Thursday 22nd February, 2007


          God Bless, Jason
          Programmer: A biological machine designed to convert caffeine into code.
          Developer: A person who develops working systems by writing and using software. [^]

          C Offline
          C Offline
          Clickok
          wrote on last edited by
          #4

          I think what there are 2 laws in question: 1) The law of the men Yes, "he be charged for breach of privacy". None discussion. 2) The law of the good and the bad If you have the power of make good (saving person, specially children), and you not use it, then you are doing the bad (i.e. killing persons). If this boy offer to help policemans (in order to follow laws), imagine the bureaucracy to start some job. In this meantime, a lot of children has been destroyed. The laws are created to men, and not the men are crated to laws.


          Engaged in learning of English grammar ;)
          For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.(John 3:16) :badger:

          I 1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • I Ilion

            "Lastly, how do you think he hide the trojan horse in the images?"

            The program, disguised as an image, allowed him to retrieve anything -- undetected -- once downloaded. He posted the image on several usenet groups used by pedophiles. In reality, the downloaded image was simply one retrieved from the user's own hard drive.

            -- modified at 9:38 Thursday 22nd February, 2007 "The law is the law, so wrong is wrong." No, the law is the law, and right is right, and the two are not at all the same.

            L Offline
            L Offline
            lost in transition
            wrote on last edited by
            #5

            My question was how did he disguise is as an image. Did he just change the extension to that of an image?


            God Bless, Jason
            Programmer: A biological machine designed to convert caffeine into code.
            Developer: A person who develops working systems by writing and using software. [^]

            M C I 3 Replies Last reply
            0
            • L lost in transition

              My question was how did he disguise is as an image. Did he just change the extension to that of an image?


              God Bless, Jason
              Programmer: A biological machine designed to convert caffeine into code.
              Developer: A person who develops working systems by writing and using software. [^]

              M Offline
              M Offline
              Marcus J Smith
              wrote on last edited by
              #6

              Many people with Windows have "Hide known extensions" checked in their folder setup. So something with a .jpg or .gif extension might really .gif.exe and the program can just pass an image to the computer to open in whatever program is associated with that extension.


              Cleako

              D 1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • I Ilion

                "Lastly, how do you think he hide the trojan horse in the images?"

                The program, disguised as an image, allowed him to retrieve anything -- undetected -- once downloaded. He posted the image on several usenet groups used by pedophiles. In reality, the downloaded image was simply one retrieved from the user's own hard drive.

                -- modified at 9:38 Thursday 22nd February, 2007 "The law is the law, so wrong is wrong." No, the law is the law, and right is right, and the two are not at all the same.

                D Offline
                D Offline
                Don Miguel
                wrote on last edited by
                #7

                Ilíon wrote:

                The program, disguised as an image,...

                :laugh::laugh::laugh: That's the future of programing! We shall just draw how our program should work and, voilla! :cool:

                W 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • L lost in transition

                  My question was how did he disguise is as an image. Did he just change the extension to that of an image?


                  God Bless, Jason
                  Programmer: A biological machine designed to convert caffeine into code.
                  Developer: A person who develops working systems by writing and using software. [^]

                  C Offline
                  C Offline
                  Chris Losinger
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #8

                  he probably sent something like "cute_boys.jpg.exe" to people who had "hide known extensions" enabled (the dumbest feature ever, IMO). they double-clicked it in their email client and ... blamo.

                  image processing toolkits | batch image processing | blogging

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • L lost in transition

                    My question was how did he disguise is as an image. Did he just change the extension to that of an image?


                    God Bless, Jason
                    Programmer: A biological machine designed to convert caffeine into code.
                    Developer: A person who develops working systems by writing and using software. [^]

                    I Offline
                    I Offline
                    Ilion
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #9

                    I agree with the other posters that the probability is high that the feat made use of the "hide known extensions" (ahem) "feature." But also, keep in mind that that was posed on usenet groups, so it would have appeared in the browser as a link to be clicked. Now, what I find amazing is that the program was "smart" enough to find an "appropriate" image (by "appropriate" I mean one in keeping with what the person expected to see based on the link he clicked) on the local HD to be displayed.

                    D 1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • C Clickok

                      I think what there are 2 laws in question: 1) The law of the men Yes, "he be charged for breach of privacy". None discussion. 2) The law of the good and the bad If you have the power of make good (saving person, specially children), and you not use it, then you are doing the bad (i.e. killing persons). If this boy offer to help policemans (in order to follow laws), imagine the bureaucracy to start some job. In this meantime, a lot of children has been destroyed. The laws are created to men, and not the men are crated to laws.


                      Engaged in learning of English grammar ;)
                      For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.(John 3:16) :badger:

                      I Offline
                      I Offline
                      Ilion
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #10

                      Precisely. There is the law of the State, and then there is the Law of morality. The law of the State may or may not accord with the ultimate law, and if the law of the State does not accord with morality, then one should say "To hell with the State, I must do what is moral."

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • L lost in transition

                        Slashdot link: http://it.slashdot.org/it/07/02/22/0223239.shtml[^] News Artical: http://www.crime-research.org/news/2002/08/Mess1901.htm[^] This is diffently on to talk about. He breaks the law to catch sick people in thier sick addictions. Should he be charged for breach of privacy? The law is the law, so wrong is wrong. (I know the next question propable only U.S. folks will understand.) Could this relate to what to group that is called the 'Minute Men' (I think) that watch our southern board for people crossing the river? But then again unless they hurt someone they have done nothing wrong, right? So, unless this hacker used the information gathered to hurt someone i.e.:identity thief or retrieve money from bank accounts. Then he was done nothing wrong, right? Lastly, how do you think he hide the trojan horse in the images? -- modified at 9:25 Thursday 22nd February, 2007


                        God Bless, Jason
                        Programmer: A biological machine designed to convert caffeine into code.
                        Developer: A person who develops working systems by writing and using software. [^]

                        B Offline
                        B Offline
                        Bassam Abdul Baki
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #11

                        I've read something were Playboy and other professional art galleries use something similar to see who's copying there files. Can't find the original article, but here's another[^]. And I personally think this guy's a hero. There's no difference between this guy doing it and other major corporations spying on the public. He at least is putting scum behind bars.


                        "I know which side I want to win regardless of how many wrongs they have to commit to achieve it." - Stan Shannon Web - Blog - RSS - Math - LinkedIn - BM

                        I J 2 Replies Last reply
                        0
                        • L lost in transition

                          Slashdot link: http://it.slashdot.org/it/07/02/22/0223239.shtml[^] News Artical: http://www.crime-research.org/news/2002/08/Mess1901.htm[^] This is diffently on to talk about. He breaks the law to catch sick people in thier sick addictions. Should he be charged for breach of privacy? The law is the law, so wrong is wrong. (I know the next question propable only U.S. folks will understand.) Could this relate to what to group that is called the 'Minute Men' (I think) that watch our southern board for people crossing the river? But then again unless they hurt someone they have done nothing wrong, right? So, unless this hacker used the information gathered to hurt someone i.e.:identity thief or retrieve money from bank accounts. Then he was done nothing wrong, right? Lastly, how do you think he hide the trojan horse in the images? -- modified at 9:25 Thursday 22nd February, 2007


                          God Bless, Jason
                          Programmer: A biological machine designed to convert caffeine into code.
                          Developer: A person who develops working systems by writing and using software. [^]

                          S Offline
                          S Offline
                          sharpiesharpie
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #12

                          Truly amazing, though his life must've been miserable, he has managed to catch criminals while committing a crime himself, but he really did make a great program o_O

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • D Don Miguel

                            Ilíon wrote:

                            The program, disguised as an image,...

                            :laugh::laugh::laugh: That's the future of programing! We shall just draw how our program should work and, voilla! :cool:

                            W Offline
                            W Offline
                            Wjousts
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #13

                            Don Miguel wrote:

                            That's the future of programing! We shall just draw how our program should work and, voilla!

                            The future is now!

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • M Marcus J Smith

                              Many people with Windows have "Hide known extensions" checked in their folder setup. So something with a .jpg or .gif extension might really .gif.exe and the program can just pass an image to the computer to open in whatever program is associated with that extension.


                              Cleako

                              D Offline
                              D Offline
                              Douglas Troy
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #14

                              AVG Free clamps down on files like this ... just try to rename a file like MyDataFile.Zip.Exe


                              :..::. Douglas H. Troy ::..
                              Bad Astronomy |VCF|wxWidgets|WTL

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • I Ilion

                                I agree with the other posters that the probability is high that the feat made use of the "hide known extensions" (ahem) "feature." But also, keep in mind that that was posed on usenet groups, so it would have appeared in the browser as a link to be clicked. Now, what I find amazing is that the program was "smart" enough to find an "appropriate" image (by "appropriate" I mean one in keeping with what the person expected to see based on the link he clicked) on the local HD to be displayed.

                                D Offline
                                D Offline
                                Dan Neely
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #15

                                I suspect it was a truely random selection the first time. IF it randomly picked a nonsense image the perv would just delete it.

                                -- Rules of thumb should not be taken for the whole hand.

                                I 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • D Dan Neely

                                  I suspect it was a truely random selection the first time. IF it randomly picked a nonsense image the perv would just delete it.

                                  -- Rules of thumb should not be taken for the whole hand.

                                  I Offline
                                  I Offline
                                  Ilion
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #16

                                  There is that. Since it was a program, and since running it would (presumably) install it on the PC, it probably wouldn't really have mattered whether or not the image displayed was of the sort the pervert expected to see.

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • B Bassam Abdul Baki

                                    I've read something were Playboy and other professional art galleries use something similar to see who's copying there files. Can't find the original article, but here's another[^]. And I personally think this guy's a hero. There's no difference between this guy doing it and other major corporations spying on the public. He at least is putting scum behind bars.


                                    "I know which side I want to win regardless of how many wrongs they have to commit to achieve it." - Stan Shannon Web - Blog - RSS - Math - LinkedIn - BM

                                    I Offline
                                    I Offline
                                    Ilion
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #17

                                    "He at least is putting scum behind bars." Sure, but knowing how screwed-up things are these days, what do you think his odds are of staying on this side of the bars?

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • B Bassam Abdul Baki

                                      I've read something were Playboy and other professional art galleries use something similar to see who's copying there files. Can't find the original article, but here's another[^]. And I personally think this guy's a hero. There's no difference between this guy doing it and other major corporations spying on the public. He at least is putting scum behind bars.


                                      "I know which side I want to win regardless of how many wrongs they have to commit to achieve it." - Stan Shannon Web - Blog - RSS - Math - LinkedIn - BM

                                      J Offline
                                      J Offline
                                      JimmyRopes
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #18

                                      Bassam Abdul-Baki wrote:

                                      I've read something were Playboy and other professional art galleries use something similar to see who's copying there files.

                                      There is no comparison here! :confused: Playboy, and others, are watermarking their (emphases on their) images and scanning the internet to see if anyone is posting their images without proper permission. :doh: This guy is distributing a Trojan that is installing itself on your [editorially speaking] computer and allowing him to view your [again editorially] personal data. X| Where is there even the slightest hint of common method here? :confused: In the case of Playboy they are scanning a public resource, the internet, for misuse of their images. :cool: In the case of the virus writer he is intruding on private resources, albeit some of which are owned by despicable people, when he has no legal right to be monitoring these resources. X| I know that child pornography is an emotionally charged subject, and I deplore pornography, child or otherwise, because it makes objects of people, but I cannot condone unethical means being used to combat it. :rolleyes: It is ironic that I find myself coming to the defense of Playboy but what they are doing is perfectly within their right. What this virus writer is doing is simply illegal and of questionable morality, regardless of the cause he is crusading. :doh:

                                      Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
                                      Think inside the box! ProActive Secure Systems
                                      I'm on-line therefore I am. JimmyRopes

                                      B L 2 Replies Last reply
                                      0
                                      • L lost in transition

                                        Slashdot link: http://it.slashdot.org/it/07/02/22/0223239.shtml[^] News Artical: http://www.crime-research.org/news/2002/08/Mess1901.htm[^] This is diffently on to talk about. He breaks the law to catch sick people in thier sick addictions. Should he be charged for breach of privacy? The law is the law, so wrong is wrong. (I know the next question propable only U.S. folks will understand.) Could this relate to what to group that is called the 'Minute Men' (I think) that watch our southern board for people crossing the river? But then again unless they hurt someone they have done nothing wrong, right? So, unless this hacker used the information gathered to hurt someone i.e.:identity thief or retrieve money from bank accounts. Then he was done nothing wrong, right? Lastly, how do you think he hide the trojan horse in the images? -- modified at 9:25 Thursday 22nd February, 2007


                                        God Bless, Jason
                                        Programmer: A biological machine designed to convert caffeine into code.
                                        Developer: A person who develops working systems by writing and using software. [^]

                                        R Offline
                                        R Offline
                                        Rage
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #19

                                        jason_lakewhitney wrote:

                                        he hide the trojan horse in the images

                                        You can hide a lot of things into images, ask Corinna[^]

                                        Company policy : no access to the internet but CP ~RaGE()

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • J JimmyRopes

                                          Bassam Abdul-Baki wrote:

                                          I've read something were Playboy and other professional art galleries use something similar to see who's copying there files.

                                          There is no comparison here! :confused: Playboy, and others, are watermarking their (emphases on their) images and scanning the internet to see if anyone is posting their images without proper permission. :doh: This guy is distributing a Trojan that is installing itself on your [editorially speaking] computer and allowing him to view your [again editorially] personal data. X| Where is there even the slightest hint of common method here? :confused: In the case of Playboy they are scanning a public resource, the internet, for misuse of their images. :cool: In the case of the virus writer he is intruding on private resources, albeit some of which are owned by despicable people, when he has no legal right to be monitoring these resources. X| I know that child pornography is an emotionally charged subject, and I deplore pornography, child or otherwise, because it makes objects of people, but I cannot condone unethical means being used to combat it. :rolleyes: It is ironic that I find myself coming to the defense of Playboy but what they are doing is perfectly within their right. What this virus writer is doing is simply illegal and of questionable morality, regardless of the cause he is crusading. :doh:

                                          Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
                                          Think inside the box! ProActive Secure Systems
                                          I'm on-line therefore I am. JimmyRopes

                                          B Offline
                                          B Offline
                                          Bassam Abdul Baki
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #20

                                          Actually, he's posting his Trojan in an illegal forum as pedophilia, and if someone wishes to download it, he's not forcing them. Same reasoning as downloading a Playboy image. However, this guy is smart. He's not going after people who just download because they could just be looking for porn, be other hackers, or knows that they can't be imprisoned for viewing (first amendment and all). He also knows that there's enough real scum out there for him not to waste time on the downloaders. However, the posters are the one he's going after and I think he's doing a great job where police officials are severely lacking or not capable of doing. How different is this from Google cookies, or a private investigator sent to spy on someone, or the bounty-hunter guy who goes out and find people? Everybody has a reason and an excuse, at least this guy's were more honorable.


                                          "This perpetual motion machine she made is a joke. It just keeps going faster and faster. Lisa, get in here! In this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!" - Homer Simpson Web - Blog - RSS - Math - LinkedIn - BM

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