Applelust.com: Out of Sync - Viruses, Worms and Heros

Out of Sync

Viruses, Worms, and Heroes

There has been news in the technical media about a retooled email and server worm, termed W32/Nimda.A-mm, that was released almost to the exact minute of the one week anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks. This article is directed at the authors of that worm, the true viruses and worms of the internet.

I give thanks to a God who, in his wisdom, while granting you intelligence, has deprived you of common sense, for that lack of street smarts will be your downfall, and one of the many countless paths to our victory.

What fool would knowingly associate themselves with the most brutal, cowardly, terrorist attack in our nation's history? Perhaps you need to turn off your computer for a while, and turn on a television, pick up a newspaper, or listen to the radio. Do you realize that the United States of America has declared war on all entities that support terrorist activities, in any form?

Not a "heightened interest."

Not a "renewed effort."

War.

And due to your desire to associate with those activities, that means war on you.

Do you really think that we will not be able to protect ourselves from you? Of course we will be able to protect ourselves from you. You had a week since the World Trade Center attacks to learn about us, but I think you were too busy debugging. You may be able to bloody our nose, but we will wipe it off with a calm, steady hand, and, with steely resolve, continue our relentless pursuit of you. You might be able to chip away at the backbone of the internet, but like any bone, once broken, it heals stronger.

All the stronger to come after you, my dear.

Do you really think that we will not be able to figure out who you are? Of course we will figure out who you are. Feel that tightness in your throat? That is not just nervousness, that is not just you realizing the foolhardy mistake you just made. That is the feeling of a technical noose tightening around your neck. And if you are so blinded by your own hate to have made this mistake, it means that you have made mistakes before this one, and that you are making mistakes right now, and that you will make mistakes in the future. And that parade of mistakes, including any feverish attempts to cover your cowardly tracks, will lead us right to your front door.

Knock, knock. Guess who.

And when we come knocking, you won't be able to hide behind a country, or a government, or an agency, or a company, or a group, or a boss.

You, the individuals that retooled and released this worm, have declared war on the United States of America, and we will find you, and hold you accountable.

Now, the true worms and viruses of the internet are not without their counterpart, the true heroes. Take, for example, the authors of LaBrea, a free network administrator's antihacking tool. A tip of my pocket protector to you. Now, that is a clever piece of coding. Open source, too. That means that the true heroes of the internet, the Good Hackers, can cooperate on making it even better. Knowing how Good Hackers tend to operate, it probably already is even better, better at sniffing out your technical stench as we speak.

I suggest that you take a break from coding and debugging for a while. Go outside, and take a walk. Play with your dog. Have a picnic. Watch a sunset.

While you still can.

Do you really think that you are smarter than us, than all of us, than all of the Good Hackers, all over the world, united? You're not, and we will prove it to you.

And I feel sorry for you when we do.

Charles Sorgie

Go to Charles' Out of Sync/Sync Different page here at Applelust.

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