RE: A question for the list...

What is being done with respect to Fizzer is rather different from "engaging the attacker" or even scanning large sections of the internet to find compromised hosts in pursuit of fixing them. The method being used is neither active nor aggressive, and here is the key difference. I think the likelihood of harming others is far less in this scenario, and I doubt that there is even a potential legal issue either, for that matter. As the virus reaches out for an update from a known location, here there was the opportunity to cause the virus to elegantly commit suicide; there is no way that the code would accidentally be run on an uninfected machine except with the direct participation of that machine's owner.

-----Original Message-----

From: Dan Hanson [mailto:dhanson@securityfocus.com] Sent: Saturday, May 17, 2003 12:28 AM
To: incidents@securityfocus.com
Subject: A question for the list...

As part of incident handling and response, most of us have had to respond to virus infections that have affected networks and hosts. Reports are circulating that members of the IRC operator community have distributed code through the update mechanism of the Fizzer virus. The code reportedly attempts to remove the virus from the host. The latest information seems to indicate that the "update" code was removed until further testing can be done and more discussion regarding the legalities of this are had.

At last year's Blackhat conference in Las Vegas, Tim Mullen presented what turned out to be a very controversial proposal. Briefly, he questioned why it would be inappropriate to strike back and disable (if not remove) a worm from hosts that are clearly not being adequately managed.

The discussion, both in the session, and after, included those who felt that this was simply vigilanteism that has no place in the current world, and those who feel that there is a responsibility for someone to do something to try to maintain, if not improve, the security situation for those connected to the Internet.

http://online.securityfocus.com/columnists/98 http://www.blackhat.com/html/bh-usa-02/bh-usa-02-speakers.html#Timothy%20Mul len
http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/134

It seems to me that a group finally took it upon themselves to do exactly what Tim was suggesting the community consider. But it appears that they have done it without any consultation of the community in general, and if I have read the reports correctly, with no authorization.

Here is a link for a report on News.com and it contains some opinions by legal folk. http://news.com.com/2100-1002_3-1003894.html?tag=lh

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A bunch of ideas for discussion pop-up to me... some of these may not be totally on-topic for this forum, if you can tie something back into incident response, I'll likely allow it through.

-What are the implications down the road?

-Are there concerns that organizations have with this trend? Legal?
Precedure?

-Is this any different than a similar activity that installs malicious code
on the target host?

-The approach that Tim advocated was significantly less intrusive than the
approach taken with the Fizzer virus, Tim's approach made no significant changes on the targeted host, simply blocked the ability of Nimda to replicate (if I remember correctly), and notify the owner that they have been compromised and where to go to find help in removing the infection. The approach taken to actually modify the system to remove Fizzer seems to go significantly past that. Why was the reaction to Tim's advocacy of discussion so hostile, and to date, I have seen no negative criticism of the Fizzer removal.

-Is this a catalyst for a group (IETF?) of some kind to debate these issues
to find a resolution? I think that most people would agree that the increasing risk that these distributed networks pose to every Internet connected host is grave, and a better method is required to deal with them. Are there other ideas that don't get us into "arms races" with malcode writers.

-If this becomes standard practice, will this force the communication and
update channels underground/encrypted (the "arms race" that I mentioned)

-What are some of the strategies that organizations are implementing to
control their exposure to these communication channels?

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-If a command can be given in a channel to "shut down" the network of hosts,
what is the view on the legality of doing this? If you had a host on your network that was suddenly shut down by a well meaning (or not so well meaning third party), what would your response be?

I am not advocating the validity of one side over another, I just find it curious how similar the idea of Tim's, and the actual attempt to remove the virus, are.

As an aside, I would like to keep the discussion on this civil. If posts become to flamey to oneside or the other (i think both sides have valid ends) they will likely be rejected.

D

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