WebKnowHow Wednesday, August 9, 2006; 06:06 AM
The Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc), a prominent
technology activist group, announced a new application designed
to collect, analyze, and ultimately help defeat malicious software
(malware). Accessible via OffensiveComputing.net, the application gives
programmers and end-users free access to a library of over 31,000
hostile software files, including viruses, rootkits, spybots, worms,
etc. Users can upload an unknown or suspicious file into
the library, request a match, and instantly obtain information on the
malicious file, including an analysis of how it operates.
Valsmith
and Danny Quist, founders of OffensiveComputing, recently unveiled the
new application at DefCon 14 to an audience of 1000+ in a speech
entitled “Hacking Malware: Offense is the New Defense.” They were also
interviewed for “Web Warriors,” a documentary by TellTale Productions
that will detail the escalating global battle against malware.
OffensiveComputing
offers
an environment where users can work together to address the destructive
effects of malware. It provides full visibility into the harmful files,
building up the collective knowledge of its users and facilitating the
reverse engineering process. It also suggests techniques to help users
defeat sophisticated malware protections such as encryption and
compression.
“Open
analysis and collaboration are key to effectively fighting malware,”
notes Valsmith. “ZDnet recently reported that, according to AusCERT,
commercially available anti-virus programs are only able to detect 20%
of malicious code. Different AV programs fail in different ways, thus
creating an incomplete and fragmented picture of the malware in play
today. The closed-source, closed analysis methods used by AV vendors
have been woefully inadequate, albeit extremely profitable.”
“An
80% failure rate is unacceptable!” said cDc founder G.Ratte’. “Computer
security can’t be left up to greedy profiteers. The AV vendors are
fighting each other for
market share and the end-users are suffering. The people deserve
better.”
Founded
in Lubbock, TX, Cult of The Dead Cow (cDc) is among the most influential
hacking group in the world. The cDc alumni reads like a Who's Who of
hacking and includes a former Presidential advisor on Internet
security, among others. The group is further distinguished
by publishing the longest running e-zine on the Internet [est. 1984],
stretching the limits of the First Amendment, and fighting anyone or
any government that aspires to limit free speech.
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