Chapter 11

XI

DoS worm invades Microsoft servers
By Robert Lemos
ZDNet News

June 2, 2001 11:12 AM PT
A program created to automatically flood Microsoft's Web and e-mail servers has been discovered on several corporate networks and may have spread further on the Internet, anti-virus researchers said Friday.

Discovered this week, the worm--dubbed DoS.Storm--infects Microsoft Web servers and then scans for new machines to infect, floods Microsoft's main Web site with data, and sends a deluge of obscene e-mail to an apparently invalid address for Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates. "This is one of the trends that we are going to see more and more of: the crossover between the hacking and virus writing, and moving away from e-mail-borne worms," said Vincent Weafer, director of software maker Symantec's anti-virus research center.

The worm spreads by exploiting a known flaw in Microsoft's flagship Web server software, called the Internet Information Service (IIS). The vulnerability, dubbed the "Web server folder traversal" flaw, affects Microsoft IIS 4.0 and 5.0.

Although Symantec researchers found the flaw last October, the security hole had been fixed by a previous patch released in August 2000. Once it infects a server, the worm starts scanning 10 million Internet addresses, looking for more vulnerable servers to infect.

The worm also initiates an attack on Microsoft, sending a flood of data to overwhelm its Web servers. Known as a denial-of-service (DoS) attack, almost 4,000 such attacks take place every week, according to a recent study.

Microsoft Web sites were crippled by a series of DoS attacks in January. In addition, the worm will send a constant stream of e-mail to "gates@microsoft.com" with the message "F**k you!" The address is believed to be invalid, causing the e-mails to bounce back to the sender.

Microsoft representatives were not immediately available for comment.

© 2001 ZD Inc. All Rights Reserved. ZDNet and ZDNet logo are registered trademarks of ZD Inc. © 2000 Ziff Davis Media.
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In the parking lot at the Clark House, Doc sat behind the wheel of a WWII duce-and-a-half towing a camouflaged semi-trailer. He watched with interest as M pulled into the lot, then stepped down, and walked over to the Jeep.

"Don't look now M, but I think the men in black have arrived."

Doc was dressed from head to toe in black, with extra dark Foster Grants to top it off.

"Yo, bro."

"Don't worry too much Meyer. It's only my brother, Doc."

"My god! You mean there are two of you?"

"What in the hell are you dressed up for Doc?"

"It's all part of the persona M. From the looks of your back window, I chose just right. When night falls, I want fade into the shadows."

"Yah. I guess you're right. Doc, meet Meyer, eminent economist and knight errant."

"Hi professor."

"Doc. It is a pleasure to meet you. I hope you aren't too much like your brother."

"Nope, he got the money, I got the good looks and all the brains."

"We'll see how much of the brains you got bro. Let's go in and get a drink. I'll show you the maps."

They walked into the Clark House. M stopped at the front desk to see if they could arrange to have the window on the Jeep fixed while Meyer and Doc headed for the small lounge.

"What do you have in the trailer Doc?"

"A little bit of everything professor. I've got some fine parabolic equipment, and a state of the art speaker system. Also, a two thousand pound bomb."

"I thought we were here to save Travis, not blow the hell out of the place."

"Not to worry professor. I took the liberty of replacing all of the explosives."

"Then what good is it? Not that I can think of anything I'd like to blow up."

"Well professor, do you remember Viet Nam? I once heard a story about…” They turned the corner just before Angel came through the main entrance.

"Hi babe!"

"Don't babe me M. I'm here. Now where is your friend?"

"Well, he hasn't arrived yet. Fact is, we have to go get him. Why don't we get you checked in? We can worry about him when you're comfortable. I've got the adjoining room."

"In your dreams fool."

"Here. Let the bellboy take your bag. Doc just got here. He's in the bar with Meyer. Let's go have a drink with them."

Doc and Meyer were deep in conversation as they joined them in the bar.

"So, what you mean is that sound waves are just like waves in the ocean. They are additive based on phase?"

"That's right professor. Now, if we split the sound waves into component frequencies, and modulate the phase through multiple directional speakers, we get the same sound at the point of intersection. Everywhere else all you can hear is white noise."

"But what if the subject is moving?"

"No problem. I got a radar from an old ground to air missile system. I tweaked it a little, so now it tracks based on a laser signature. All we have to do is keep the subject painted."

"And no one around him can hear a thing?"

"Well, the human ear is a wonderful thing. It can hear a pin drop across the room. It doesn't take much of a sound wave to get it going."

"Amazing."

"Meyer, I'd like you to meet Angel. She's our medical team."

Meyer stood up. "Truly a pleasure my dear. How is it you've fallen in with bad company like M?"

"I'm not sure Mr. Meyer. M heard somewhere that 'you are what you eat.' He saw me at a McDonald's and decided I must be hot, fast, cheap, and easy."

"Please, just call me Meyer dear."

"Ok, Meyer. I'm pleased to meet you too. Hello Doc. It's been a while."

"Much too long. I'm glad to see you're here."

They all looked out the window as a psychedelic Volkswagen bus tore through the parking lot billowing smoke behind it. It was painted with flowers, and the stereo could be heard through the windows in the lounge.

"It looks like we've slipped through another time warp." Doc said.

"Not at all my friends," Said a voice from behind them. "That was my fuzz-buster."

They turned to see a neatly dressed Hispanic businessman dressed in a conservative gray suit. He carried an old leather briefcase. His dark brown hair was styled, and he had a trimmed mustache without one hair disturbed. He could easily have been mistaken for a big city lawyer, or a guest host on Fantasy Island.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet the Medicine Man." M said. "Just call him Enrico."

"Hello all. I hope my assistant didn't disturb your conversation. I find that it helps to have him drive by when ever I have a meeting to attend to. If the law is nearby, they invariably bother him and not me. He's doing his doctoral thesis at Stanford on Stereotype Targeting by law enforcement. He loves it when the pull him over."

"Hello M. How may I be of assistance?"

"We need to disable a rather large force of men. I thought you might be able to help us out."

"How long would you like them to be disabled?"

"Oh. Say forty-eight hours."

"Excellent! This should be an interesting challenge. How would you like to administer the drugs?"

"Some by water, and some by air. I noticed that they have their own well in the compound. But, we also need something more direct, for those who aren't thirsty."

"Might I suggest a skin agent? DMSO to carry the drug into the system, bonded to a sticky resin?"

"That sounds good. What kind of drug can you whip up for us that will carry on those vectors?"

"Probably an alkaloid. Perhaps some Jimson Weed, Datura stramonium, unfortunately, the effective dose is very close to the amount that will cause an overdose. We'll have to add some Lysergic Acid, but that doesn’t pose a problem."

Meyer looked distinctly uncomfortable. "I can't believe I'm listening to this conversation."

"It's a simple choice Meyer" M said. "We can either go in with guns blazing, or we can try something less damaging. Hell, the department of defense is trying the same kind of thing. Good thing too. Enrico only had to come from Dougway. He's working on a DOD contract there."

"Enrico, this is Doc. Aside from being my brother, he's totally reliable. Use him as your point of contact. If you can follow the map, he'll be in that salvaged trailer you see outside. We need to move it in behind the compound. There's an old mine road that comes in from the north with a small mountain in between. It will put you above and behind them on the slope of a hill. The cover is good, but watch yourselves, the guards are armed and they play rough. How much time do you think you'll need?"

"Probably three or four hours to locate what I'll need in town. After that, the timing will be up to you. I'll just leave you my wares, and slip off back to the barracks."

"I'll need at least one night to get my stuff into place." Doc said. "After that, every extra minute is gravy."

"Ok. Doc, you better get going now. There's a map in this package. Tonight, you'll meet up with Will D. He'll find you. Enrico, get whatever you need, mix up your magic, and drop it off with Doc this evening."

"There is the small matter of money M."

"I haven't forgotten Medicine Man. Here's twenty-five grand and a map for you. You can pick up the balance when you deliver."

"Always a pleasure M." And with that, he was gone.

"Doc, we'll be up to see you tomorrow morning. Do you have everything you need?"

"I think so. No, wait a minute. I need power. I've got generators, but I can't run them that close, they make too much noise."

"There's a transmission line that cuts through to the north of the compound. You'll have to step the voltage down from 7,200. And please don't get buck fever tonight. Remember that Will D. will be meeting you after dark."

"No sweat, I can steal a transformer on the way out of town. Don't let him talk you into anything Angel."

"Not a chance."

Five minutes later, the parking lot looked normal again. Across the lawn, they could see the Sheriff's car with lights flashing. It was pulled up behind the Volkswagen bus. The doctoral candidate was spread eagle against the side. He smiled as a dark blue Mercedes glided by.

"Anyone for a swim in the lake?" Angel asked.

"Perhaps not a swim dear, but I do have several papers I've been hoping to read. I'll join you at lakeside. Traveling around with M isn't conducive to study."

"You two go ahead. I've got some more markers to call in, then I think I'll take a nap."

Instead of the nap, M spent the afternoon at Jiffy Print, and hiring cub-scouts to hand out map flyers. It was good to have a crowd to work with, but they were in the wrong place.

*****

"Governor, we need some help." Mayor Tallmadge said. "We got hippies and queers all over the place. If that isn’t bad enough, I got some idiots trying to homestead in the middle of the City Park, and some fool just took a power transformer from the city building."

"Well hell Lowell, what do you want me to do? I can send you some boys from the State Patrol."

"State Patrol Hell! There are flyers all over town announcing a Grateful Dead concert tomorrow up Dry Gulch Canyon. I need crowd control damn it!"

"Like I said, Lowell, what the hell do you want me to do?"

"Call up the guard before someone gets hurt, that's what!"

"You think those people are going to get hurt at a Grateful Dead concert?"

"No you imbecile! Dry Gulch Canyon is where all them friggin Nazis are. I think we're about to have World War III."

"Well shit! Why didn't you say so earlier? I'll have a company of guardsman there in the morning!"