Honor Among Thieves
Now, we all know about the licensing agreement that we have to agree to whenever we want to install a program right? It’s some long winded statements that tell us what we can’t do with the software and how we can be persecuted if we do this and that to the software. I don’t know precisely what it contains because I just never did have the time to bother to read them. I see a tick box and I ticked it, and then I press ‘Next’. Easy.
Well, looks like the malware and virus authors are lining up side by side with those legitimate software authors and companies with their licensing terms. They are now protecting their rights to their virus codes as well. Who would have thought? What an honest thing to do!
According to the news at wtopnews.com, there are professional virus authors out there that are selling a suite of software on the Internet with a highly unusual attachment; a detailed licensing agreement that promises penalties for redistributing the malicious codes without permission.
Okay, let’s take a step back now. If I were someone who wants to release a virus into the World Wide Web, what are the chances that I’d follow the agreement that came along with it? Will I or Won’t I?
The malware that came with the licensed agreement is a virus that infects computers to gain remote access to the computers. These computers will then be turned into ‘zombie’ computers and will be known as the bot nets. And apparently the authors put the following licensing terms (in Russian) in the software:
The Client:
1. Does not have the right to distribute the product in any business or commercial purposes not connected with this sale.
2. May not disassemble / study the binary code of the bot builder.
3. Has no right to use the control panel as a means to control other bot nets or use it for any other purposes.
4. Does not have the right to deliberately send any portion of the product to anti-virus companies and other such institutions.
5. Commits to give the seller a fee for any update to the product that is not connected with errors in the work, as well as for adding additional functionality.
And apparently, if the user violates any of the terms as above, the virus author will then report them (the user, not the author) to the antivirus company with the information on how to dismantle the user’s bot network and how to prevent it from getting bigger.
Needless to say, none of the antivirus companies have ever received any reports similar to the threat. It’s easy to threaten the users, but I don’t really see how the virus authors would make real of their promises. More salt on the authors’ wound, apparently the software is freely traded online. No justice for the virus coders?