A Failure to Learn from the Past Presented












- Slides: 12
A Failure to Learn from the Past Presented by Chad Frommeyer CSC 493/593 Professors Charles E. Frank/James Walden
Introduction • • Internet Worm and its Behavior Consequences to the Creator/Originator Resulting actions taken What have we learned?
Internet Worm • October, 1988 Internet Contained 60, 000 hosts • Worm attack affected 3000 -6000 (5%10%) • Infection lasted 3 -4 days • Only Unix based systems affected
Internet Worms -- Terms • Worm – Independent program that can replicate itself • Virus – Code that requires a host, and cannot run independently • Malware – Malicious Software
Inernet Worm -- Operation • Fingerd – Buffer Overflow (C-Language gets() – altering fingerd functionality • Sendmail – DEBUG options exploit allowed execution of commands • Password discovery • Identify Trusted Machines • Cleanup after Execution • Chronology
Consequences • • • Author Robert T Morris No Prison, 400 Hours Community Service Fine of $13, 776 Suspended from graduate studies at Cornell Malicious Intent not proven Ultimately received Ph. D from Harvard, and is currently an associate professor at MIT. • Adequate?
Resulting Actions • CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) • Central switchboard for computer emergencies on ARPAnet and MILnet • Not enough?
What have we learned? • Software Flaws • Incident Response • Laws and Ethics
Learned? (Software Flaws) • 95% of reported malware is against Microsoft • Trust Relationships – Software – Hardware – Personal • Buffer Overflows • Default Configurations
Learned? (Incident Response) • • CERT/CC Delayed Communications Not Comprehensive What communication is good enough?
Laws and Ethics • • • Fewer than a dozen people convicted Expensive/Difficult to Investigate Lack of Tools/Expertise Lack of Foreign Laws Lack of international cooperation
Conclusion • Punishment not adequate – Needed precedence • Awareness needs to be heightened • Software processes need to recognize lack of expertise • Security should be a priority to product management