full-disclosure - AV "feature" does more DDoS than Sobig

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From: rgerhards at hq.adiscon.com (Rainer Gerhards)
Subject: AV "feature" does more DDoS than Sobig

I agree that there is a problem with these replies nowadays, but I do not see the loop? How does A restart the cycle? All I see is that A potentially receives massive amounts of these "virus messages" (which of course can be a problem). Am I missing something?

Rainer

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Fabio Gomes de Souza [mailto:bugtraq@....com.br] 
> Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2003 3:05 PM
> To: bugtraq@...urityfocus.com; full-disclosure@...ts.netsys.com
> Subject: [Full-Disclosure] AV "feature" does more DDoS than Sobig
> 
> 
> Hello,
> 
> Anti-virus products are causing more harm than the Sobig Worm.
> 
> Some of my customers are having the following problem:
> 
> B = Customer of my customer (infected)
> C,D,E = Some random company (victims of Sobig)
> A = My customer (victim of AV marketing)
> 
> The Sobig worm infected B.
> 
> In its propagation loop, the worm composes a message, chooses 
> two random 
> items in the Address Book, and puts the first in the "From:" and the 
> second in the "To:" header. Then all virus messages are spoofed.
> 
> The problem is that many e-mail virus scanners send a "You 
> are infected" 
> reply to the address contained in the "From" header. Since 
> the messages 
> are spoofed, the inoccent, uninfected user "A" is flooded by 
> automatic 
> complaints from "C","D","E" regarding the virus that "B" sends.
> 
> Anti-virus companies seem to spend more money on marketing/visibility 
> than on actually protecting their customers. This marketing 
> stupidity is 
> done by adding USELESS features, which spreads false information and 
> delivers false sense of security:
> 
> 	- "You're infected" reply (false positive)
> 	- "This message is 100% virus-free certified" signature 
> line (false 
> sense of security)
> 	- Anti-virus buttons on Internet Explorer toolbar (just 
> to launch the AV)
> 	- Splash screens every time you:
> 		- boot your computer
> 		- send e-mail
> 		- check pop3 e-mail
> 		- turn your computer off
> 	- System tray useless icons (in some AVs, the system 
> tray icon does 
> nothing except for launching the AV program)
> 	- Redundant shortcut icons in Desktop, Start Menu root, 
> Quick Launch 
> and Start Menu program folder
> 
> This kind of stupidity from AV companies makes me hate them 
> more every day.
> 
> -- 
> Fabio Gomes de Souza <fabio@....com.br> Fone: (81) 9127-0597
> 
> GS2 TECNOLOGIA DA INFORMA??O LTDA
>   - Infra-estrutura de TI, seguran?a, sistemas embutidos e Linux
>   - Consultoria, planejamento, implementa??o e gerenciamento
> 
http://www.gs2.com.br negocios@....com.br (81) 3492-7777





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