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Rootkits Made Easy...Should there be a Law? | |
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| Time: 00:40 EST/05:40 GMT | News Source: Windows Connected | Posted By: Kenneth van Surksum | ||
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Rootkits by design hide themselves from the operating system often running in kernal mode as a driver. They tend to be difficult to develop and hard to test. However, more and more people are coming out of the wood work helping further the efforts of this underworld community. | ||
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| #1 By 12071 (203.185.215.149) at 4/10/2006 2:54:50 AM |
| no. |
| #2 By 23603 (70.82.83.103) at 4/10/2006 6:23:44 AM |
| yes!! |
| #3 By 3746 (71.19.43.237) at 4/10/2006 8:47:17 AM |
| maybe |
| #4 By 2960 (68.101.39.180) at 4/10/2006 9:25:11 AM |
|
Fer Sure, dude.
TL |
| #5 By 7754 (216.160.8.41) at 4/10/2006 11:43:51 AM |
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There are already laws against malicious activity. There's little doubt this is targeted at anything other than malicious uses, but it's conceivable that one may use it for legit purposes as well. If there was a law, it would simply force the practice underground (to whatever extent the law was effective), which could have both bad and good consequences.
What would be better is if someone would compromise their site, adding code surreptitiously to the toolkit so that it would collect information about the original writer and package it with any resulting malware, helping authorities root (groan) out these bad guys. I would imagine they might figure that out right away, though. Perhaps a better law would be to require all kernel-mode drivers to be digitally signed. |
| #6 By 8556 (12.217.111.92) at 4/10/2006 11:58:50 AM |
| I can't believe that MS won't (someday soon, maybe?) write code to remove malicious rootkits. |
| #7 By 32132 (64.180.219.241) at 4/10/2006 2:39:42 PM |
|
"If there was a law, it would simply force the practice underground (to whatever extent the law was effective), which could have both bad and good consequences."
Thats true of every law. Therefore irrelevant. Make it illegal. Rootkits have no practical use except to subvert your computer. I would really like to see Sony executives go to jail. |
| #8 By 7754 (216.160.8.41) at 4/10/2006 3:14:44 PM |
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Rootkits have no practical use except to subvert your computer.
That's not true, although definitely the interest in them is for that reason. But for example, what about using rootkits as part of an FBI or CIA investigation? Or in corporate environments, how about using a rootkit to investigate questionable activity of a tech-savvy IT employee? |
| #9 By 15406 (216.191.227.68) at 4/10/2006 3:28:14 PM |
| "Rootkit" is kind of a misnomer here. What Sony did, while odious, was not illegal. They merely used a known aspect of the OS to hide their device driver. It's not up to the government to decide that hidden drivers in themselves are illegal; it's what's done with them that matters. Are there not already laws that encompass computer misuse & fraud, privacy, etc? Why is a separate rootkit law required? |
| #10 By 32132 (64.180.219.241) at 4/10/2006 7:16:59 PM |
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#8 "But for example, what about using rootkits as part of an FBI or CIA investigation?"
With a court order ... or duly authorized by the Presidents War Powers, I wouldn't have a problem with that. But not for private citizens or corporations. #9 "was not illegal" http://www.gamespot.com/news/6139586.html The California suit, filed last week in Los Angeles Superior Court by a Southern California attorney on behalf of all California consumers "who purchased or acquired one of the rootkit-installed CDs," claims Sony BMG broke three state laws--the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, the Consumer Protection against Computer Spyware Act, and the California Unfair Competition law--according to the filing. It asks the court to force Sony to stop selling any more CDs containing the rootkit and seeks compensation for damage already incurred by users. The suit centers on the matter of user notification and the rootkit's removal. The filing claims that the license agreement that pops up when a protected CD is loaded does not indicate the potential damage caused by the software. The agreement says, "The software is intended to protect the audio files on this CD. It will reside on your computer until it is removed or deleted." It does not say that the software hides itself. The California lawsuit also charges that the agreement does not say that the computer will be damaged--the CD player becomes inoperable--if the user tries to uninstall it. "Why is a separate rootkit law required?" Why is the criminal code a zillion pages? Lawyers and judges like specifics. |
| #11 By 15406 (216.191.227.68) at 4/11/2006 8:34:42 AM |
| #10: If it was actually illegal, the police/FBI would be involved. This is just some cheesy lawyer with a civil suit. |
| #12 By 32132 (64.180.219.241) at 4/11/2006 11:32:09 AM |
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http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2005/tc20051128_573560.htm
"A Homeland Security Dept. official has weighed in, accusing Sony BMG of undermining computer security. And Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has alleged, in a suit filed Nov. 21, that Sony BMG violated his state's antispyware laws. Now, the Sony BMG debacle has drawn the scrutiny of New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer" |
| #13 By 15406 (216.191.227.68) at 4/11/2006 11:59:57 AM |
| #12: the only comment that holds any water is Spitzer getting involved. The first is some random DHS droid giving his opinion. The second is yet another lawyer. America is a strange country. Where I live, we have this group called the police to enforce the laws. You appear to have lawyers for that same function. Strange. |
| #14 By 32132 (64.180.219.241) at 4/11/2006 1:37:17 PM |
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"The second is yet another lawyer"
Not just another lawyer. Sptizer is NY Attorney General, Abbott is Texas Attorney General. Same position. Same amount of danger for Sony. |
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