[Tech] Da Microsoft una taglia sugli autori di MS Blast e Sobig

Microsoft ha messo una taglia di 250.000 dollari (a testa) sugli autori dei worm virus MS Blast e Sobig.

Microsoft Corp., beset by widespread criticism of security flaws in its software, on Wednesday put up a bounty to track down the authors of two computer bugs that choked the Internet earlier this year.



Microsoft offered two $250,000 rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the Blaster worm and the SoBig.F e-mail virus, which infected more than half a million computers, crashed thousands of systems, and snarled Internet traffic across the globe in August and September.

La casa di Redmond ha anche reso noto di avere accantonato altri 4,5 milioni di dollari da usare in futuro per pagare eventuali altre "taglie".



A quanto pare, a Bill Gates hanno cominciato finalmente a fischiare le orecchie:

While SoBig.F and Blaster have caused little lasting damage, other cyberattacks have paralyzed automatic-teller machines, frustrated police dispatchers, and knocked nearly the entire country of South Korea offline. Security experts say future attacks could disable power plants, hospitals or other "critical infrastructure."



"These are not just Internet crimes, cybercrimes or virtual crimes. These are real crimes that hurt a lot of people," Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith said at a news conference, where he was joined by officials from the U.S. FBI, Secret Service, and Interpol, the international police agency.



Many of the most damaging viruses have spread through security holes in Microsoft products, leading to widespread criticism of the Redmond, Washington software maker.



Although computer security is an industry-wide problem, "we have clear responsibility to take a leadership role in addressing the issue," Smith said.

Incrociamo le dita... per ora la loro Trustworthy Computing Initiative non è che mi abbia sbalordito - speriamo facciano di meglio, in futuro.



Fonte: Reuters.