Storm Worm Botnet More Powerful Than Top Supercomputers InformationWeek (09/06/07) Gaudin, Sharon
as it appeared in the September 10, 2007 edition of ACM TechNews.
The Storm worm botnet that has been pummeling the Internet continuously for the last three months has grown so extensive that it could easily overwhelm the world's top supercomputers, according to security researchers. Estimates of the botnet's size vary, but most researchers concur that it is one of the biggest zombie grids ever observed. MessageLabs researchers spot roughly 2 million discrete computers in the botnet dispatching spam on a daily basis and, after witnessing large spikes in activity, researchers believe the botnet typically runs at roughly 10 percent of capacity. Matt Sergeant of MessageLabs thinks the botnet could involve as many as 50 million computers, but Adam Swidler of Postini thinks the botnet is much smaller, though he agrees that it is capable of inflicting great damage. This means that cyber criminals in control of the botnet possess much destructive power and could hurt companies, government agencies, financial centers, or utilities through a denial-of-service (DoS) attack similar to what struck Estonia earlier in 2007. Moreover, the Storm worm botnet has been programmed to launch a distributed DoS attack against computers scanning for malware or vulnerabilities, anti-spam organizations, and even individual researchers attempting to study the botnet. The botnet authors are making money through pump-and-dump scams and are expanding the botnet with fake news and e-cards spam. Lawrence Baldwin of MyNetWatchman.com calls the situation "scary," noting that the botnet cumulatively sends out billions of messages daily. Click Here to View Full Article
