Google hit by virus!

[ebenz47037]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3927963.stm

Only some UK users seem to be affected
Net search engine Google appeared to resume normal service in the UK around 2000BST after a virus crippled its search engine.
Net security firms reported that the havoc seemed to have been caused by a new variant of the MyDoom virus.

Google confirmed a number of users in the UK and some US and French users were experiencing problems.

The search engine is one of the most popular on the net, dealing with 200 million global queries a day.

 

[Lucky]

This is an interesting virus. I was suprised by the thread title, because I've heard Google uses Linux, and there's not really any Linux viruses. But what this virus does is, using infected (Windows) computers, is launch DDoS attacks on websites such as Google. Specifically, it takes advantage of Google's search engine to find email addresses to, of course, send the virus to.

• "[MyDoom] also uses search engines to look for even more addresses in online forums and webpages."

:think:

 

[Free-Agent Smith]

So is it safe to use Google at this time?

How does the virus "find" the e-mail addresses?

 

[ebenz47037]

Well, the article said it only affected UK users.

 

[Lucky]

Originally posted by Agent Smith

So is it safe to use Google at this time?

Yes.

How does the virus "find" the e-mail addresses?

It scans Google's results of random searches looking for a string of characters that resembles an email address. Such as a@a.aaa where "a" could be any character or string of characters.

Example:

a Google search for "email me"

Just on the first page of results, I find this string of characters that resembles an email address.

marc@ctyme.com

So, if I were a virus trying to spread my breed, I would send a copy of myself to that email address. Oh, and hope that its final destination is a Windows box. Anyways, that's about as much as I know.

 

[SOTK]

Those darn viruses! :madmad:

 

[Greywolf]

Not Google! :shocked:

%!!# viruses.

 

[Lucky]

And on "IPO Day" to top it off. Hopefully it didn't hurt them too much.

 

[cattyfan]

I wish those boys wearing the pocket protectors and living in their mother's basement, watching Star Trek reruns and discussing the superiority of the various Captains, would get a new hobby.

 

[Mr. 5020]

Originally posted by cattyfan

I wish those boys wearing the pocket protectors and living in their mother's basement, watching Star Trek reruns and discussing the superiority of the various Captains, would get a new hobby.

Amen.