full-disclosure - Why is IRC still around?

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Message-ID: <1f29b89404111912581744647d@mail.gmail.com>
From: umphress at gmail.com (Chris Umphress)
Subject: Why is IRC still around?

> 1) A hell of a lot of viruses/worms/trojans use IRC to wreck further havoc?

yes, some do. The three most common forms of viral use of IRC that I see are:

1. Virus/worm/trojan writers have it connect to a server and notify a
channel that it has infected xx.xx.xx.xx. This is an attempt to keep
the virus writer anonymous.
2. mIRC scripts (I'm not going to say more)
3. bot nets which are a form of DoS attack.

> 2) A considerable amount of "script kiddies" originate and grow through IRC?

True, but some of our experts gain some of their knowlege from IRC as
well. It's a two-way street.

> 3) A wee bit of software piracy occurs?

yes, but people also have Kazaa (FastTrack), Nuttella, FTP, warez
sites, and Newsgroups.

> 4) That many organized DoS attacks through PC zombies are initiated through IRC?

This goes back to mIRC scripting. The ones that don't would be able to
check a website/blog/wiki to look for commands.

> 5) The anonymity of the whole thing helps to foster all the illegal
> and malicious activity that occurs?
> The list goes on and on...

Anything on the Internet has a certain level of anonymity that is
available. There are proxies, temporary e-mail accounts, etc.

> Sorry to offend those that use IRC legitimately (LOL - find something
> else to chat with your buddies), but why the hell are we not pushing
> to sunset IRC?
>
> What would IT be like today without IRC (or the like)? Am I narrow
> minded to say that it would be a much safer place?

I'm not offended. IRC has the ability to let you hold a "conference"
with people from all over the world. Or to just have fun. Sure there
are other chatting platforms that could be used, but they aren't as
flexible.
If IRC were to suddenly stop existing, Bulletin boards and Wiki would
become even more popular. Most of them allow the same level of
anonymity that IRC gives to people. Or some poor soul's blog would be
overrun with "comments". Unfortunately, all of the things you have
listed as the downside to IRC would happen anyway.

My 2c worth

-- 
Chris Umphress <http://daga.dyndns.org/>