Virus writers experiment with slow spread

VIRUS WRITERS are experimenting with a new breed that spread too slowly for security outfits to detect them.

Security outfit Symantec said that in the good old days virus writers wanted fame and attention and penned programmes that could spread quickly.

Now since the role of virus writer is a paying job, many are writing code which spread slowly turning PCs into "botnets" or just nick data from a handful of machines.

Some of the viruses that Symantec has seen, contain evidence that the writer has written in code to prevent it spreading too quickly. This makes it difficult for security outfits to detect and block it.

Apparently they have discovered that a bot net of 1,000 is just as effective, and harder to shut down, than one with 400,000 people.

More in the Sydney Morning Herald, here. µ