--- "John G. Rose" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > From: Matt Mahoney [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > It amazes me that a crime of this scale can go on for a year and we are > > powerless to stop it either through law enforcement or technology. The > > Storm > > botnet already controls enough computing power to simulate a neural > > network > > the size of several human brains. Imagine if this computing power could > > be > > used to rewrite itself using the same software skills needed to > > automatically > > discover and exploit vulnerabilities in popular software. The trend is > > clear. > > We are already losing control of our computers. > > > > http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/known-vulnerabilities.html > > http://blogs.csoonline.com/windows_vista_90_day_vulnerability_report > > http://www.cert.org/stats/fullstats.html > > > > Are the hackers smart enough to control an evolutionary process whose > > fitness > > function is the acquisition of computing resources? > > > > If the hackers were smart enough, and they are using the botnet for monetary > gain, they could, or someone could create one that develops a mind of its > own - shuts itself off from human control and grows and adapts > independently. The botnet as it exists now I would venture to say is just a > FSM multi-agent self-replicating P2P extension of a programmer's fingertips. > Their problem is that ISPs and administrators will eventually be able to > kill it off or break it up into dormant chuncks. It is exhibiting some > interesting behavior though -
So far, they have not succeeded in killing it. An intelligent, self improving worm would be even harder to kill. Once every computer was infected, it would be impossible. -- Matt Mahoney, [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- This list is sponsored by AGIRI: http://www.agiri.org/email To unsubscribe or change your options, please go to: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?member_id=8660244&id_secret=69286478-0a533b
