From: David Orban (david@davidorban.com)
Date: Fri Aug 31 2007 - 16:21:37 MDT
> Just as the most successful parasites do not kill their hosts, successful
> worms will remain hidden. Your computer will seem to work normally. But
> really, what could you do? You google for a test and download a patch, with
> the worm watching your every move? Wipe your disk and reinstall the OS from
> CD, and then connect to an Internet where every computer is infected? Or do
> you just accept that you can't trust your computer, and just live with it?
Computer security issues are a big problem already, without an AGI
recursively rewriting the attack patterns. I have been working with
Eugene Kaspersky, a renowned security expert, for the last seven
years, and he has become lately rather pessimistic in the overall
capacity of the industry to keep up. If you search in Google his
latest remarks you will notice that: there are fewer widespread
attacks, flashworms, and such, and that the self-protection mechanisms
of the attacks that do spread are getting better.
The reason for the first is that the recursive evolution is happening
with human intelligence being involved, and still rapidly enough:
organized crime is now running the development of the latest attacks,
and manage the spam operations, and the botnets. These organizations
are looking for ROI, and not visibility.
The second's roots are in the better and better application of strong
cryptographic elements. Once properly implemented, and in a complete
circle of vector, infection, and communication processes, the white
hats will be powerless. (Unless some for the moment unsubstantiated
quantum breakthroughs move the battle to a new ground.)
The intentions of the entities are malevolent already enough, and not
friendly at all, as the death of a leading Russian spammer
illustrates. There is also a second category: the website of the
Academy of the Chinese armed forces has been hacked, or at least that
is what was thought at the time. After Kaspersky alerted them that
they were infecting visiting computers, and nothing happened for 6
months, the thinking is that the infection was not there with the host
unawares...
Now this is not a hard takeoff probably, but for those concerned it is
already hard enough!
David
--------
David Orban
www.davidorban.com
skype davidorban
sl davidorban
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