Battling rootkits

Regarding “Rootkits aren’t doom – but keep up defenses”: Rootkits will plague the common PC user in the future just as spyware has in the last few years. Removing rootkits with software will work only in some cases, and some of the software is not user friendly.

The advice we have been given is to wipe your hard drive and reinstall the operating system. This is again well and good for users who are technically savvy, but for the ordinary user this can be a nightmare.

Products such as Komoku's PCI card seem to be the way forward for the moment as this adds an extra layer of complexity for the rootkit writers to overcome. However, I am sure that technology like this can be overcome by some of the rootkits that are available for installing in your video BIOS.

I can see the fight against rootkits getting harder as the profits that are in it for criminals and hackers spawn more variants of harder-to-detect rootkits. This fight will be hardest on the ordinary and inexperienced PC user.

Stephen Marsh
Administrator
www.antirootkit.com
Dublin, Ireland

Spam Zombies

Regarding “Researchers warn of ‘Spam Zombies from Outer Space’”: The research cited from Aycock and Friess just proves that spammers will always be one step ahead of the spam filtering software on the market. The spam economy is so lucrative that spammers will continue to develop new and more devious ways to deliver their messages to unsuspecting inboxes. This is why filtering spam is virtually ineffective. Spammers study the filter's rules and generate new messages that outsmart the filters. The key to holding back the flood of spam is to fight the spam at its source -- and not when it has already reached the recipient’s inbox. Governments and the Internet community need to work together to hurt spammers in their pockets and force them to comply with ethical e-mail practices. Blue Security's Do Not Intrude Registry protects over 450,000 e-mail addresses of users that are exercising their rights to get rid of spam and sending a clear message to spammers -- "Remove us from your mailing lists" -- and spammers are listening. Major spammers, responsible for more than 25% of the world's spam, already comply with the Do Not Intrude Registry because they understand there is no economic benefit from continuing to send their messages to our community.   

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