Downloading is Wrong, Says Trojan Virus
Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: bittorrent, piracy, trojan, virus | Themes: The Internet
According to TorrentFreak, a Trojan virus was found masquerading as a serial key generator on popular BitTorrent search engines last week. While viruses and spyware contained within pirated software is commonplace on the Internet, what makes this case especially interesting is what this Trojan virus actually did to the affected system.
The trojan virus in question will rewrite the user’s host file to block access to websites The Pirate Bay and Mininova. This is done by writing the redirect IP 127.0.0.1 to those two URLs within the host file. Whenever the user attempts to connect to said websites, they will receive a failure to connect notice. The writers of the virus went a step further and designed the virus to play an audio file that said, “Downloading is Wrong” when the host computer fails to connect.
This infected torrent file has since been removed from The Pirate Bay, and users have resumed their normal downloading habits. This is the first time we have seen an included trojan virus target those that pirate software, and was not intended to benefit the writer of the virus through key logging or spam. Consequences of the infection is also relatively low, and can be easily removed by most anti-virus software.
The anti-virus company, Sophos, has identified the virus in question to be Troj/Qhost-AC. This virus was first detected on January 2, 2009 and has a relatively low infection ranking. The other interesting piece of information is that the Trojan virus only affects Windows-based machines at the moment; those running alternative operating systems such as OS X or Linux are safe.
TorrentFreaks has a guide on the “Do’s and Don’ts” of torrent downloading that provides a glimpse into the dark-side of piracy. With software piracy running rampant in today’s Internet culture, it is often easy to forget that there are also harmful consequences to downloading software besides those that affect the developers.
As of press time, no hacker group has come forward to claim responsibility for this virus. Forums and comments in various places by conspiracy theorists have ranged from the start of an offensive by the RIAA, to Mac/Linux users playing a prank on Windows users. We feel that those theories are rather unrealistic, and is more likely the simple work of amateur hackers and pranksters.
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WOW epic way to give pirates a slap in the face! "Downloading is Wrong!"
Here is a funny video about Piracy.
Sorry the link didn't post.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXR4T8xVFdw
Makes internet piracy sound like having anonymous unprotected sex with many partners while experimenting with mind altering drugs in a consequence free environment. You might end up with an STD.
I think these "Virus Makers" should be held under full responsibility of anti-hack laws.
i guess the best phrase for this situation is
two wrongs don't make a right
Alternate article title suggestion:
The ultimate in "ethical hacking"
Oh please, thanks to the ease of piracy, it's up to goody, ordinary people to do what is right and enforce justice. Developers and software makers can't fight back against pirates because they have to play fair. They can't deliberately write viruses or attack torrent networks because they are law abiding entities, while the pirates have no constraints. As criminals, pirates can do whatever they want so good people are powerless to stop them.
What we need is a "Batman" type vigilante that will mercilessly attack pirates and pirating sites. Wipe out hard drives, destroy the OS, and wipe out documents in a way so that they can never be recovered (by overwriting the same sector). Piracy has been so rampant that finally a hero emerges to put an end to crime, and fight for the weak and powerless. Of course pirates won't like it, but they are going to be taught a lesson very soon I hope.
Whether you have a positive or negative outlook on piracy spreading a Trojan through such means is in no way justified. Doing a bad deed to try and correct a bad deed will never work. If we try and justify this hackers illegal actions then we would only be hypocrites for opposing the illegal actions of the pirates. You can't favor certain law breakers simply because what they did amuses you.
The only reason the pc's got infected was because software was downloaded illegaly and executed.
Most viruses are spread through illegal software. Less illegal software less viruses.
Sounds like something media sentry would do.........
# How to backup a PC
Regardless of who wrote and spread the virus, the message is inaccurate. Downloading is not wrong. I have downloaded open source software because it is free to the public. I have paid for and downloaded programs (like avast! Pro). Downloading is not wrong.
The message they seem to want to spread is "Stealing software is wrong." If I agreed with that sentiment (which I do, actually), I find their method of spreading the message repugnant, even if it is relatively benign. Would they accept someone else forcefully redirecting their web browsing? I doubt it.
The Golden Rule (the "Do unto others ..." one, not the "He who has the gold ..." one) still applies.
+1 for g-thor.
Unfortunately its the ignorance and lack of education that stop people from understanding the simple fact that its not downloading thats the problem, but copying copyrighted material and making it availabe to others.
You can download open source software from a number of host sites. The only reason to use a P2P torrent site is if you are pirating. Let's not pretend, sure a bong can be used to smoke tobacco, but I've never seen that done before. Bongs are used to smoke marijuana and if you are buying a bong, it is to smoke marijuana just like if you are getting a torrent, it is to pirate.
It is not wrong to attack pirates. Just like police sometimes use force against criminals. Real pirating is going on off the coast of Somalia, it is not wrong to attack these thieves. But most people don't have the means to in both software and real piracy, they depend on others to protect them from criminals. It's time to unleash a devastating barrage of viruses to teach pirates a lesson. Viruses should either target documents and write over the sector to prevent recovery. Most people don't backup vital documents. The other method would delete enough critical Windows OS files to make the OS unstable. There is nothing more frustrating then having your system crash every so often without knowing why and hours can be spent trying to figure it out. Most people aren't computer savvy enough to do crap, they might get frustrated enough to buy a new system. Hey, that helps the economy so vigilantes do double the good if they make pirates buy a new system because the old one is so screwed up that they give up on it.
Who watches the Watchmen...
!@#$ing M$ ads! I cant read the article clearly.
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums [...] ingads.jpg
last time i checked, downloading/torrenting was one of the most efficient ways to get files over the internet. many places use it in a useful and legal manner (unless i'm mistaken VMWare distributes virtual appliances via torrent). I really wish the industry and common user would see the benefits of this and use it for something useful. I'm going to get really pissed when comcast shuts off my downloads that are legal because i reached their imaginary, spineless RIAA ass kissing limit.
So no, downloading is not wrong, and anyone that thinks it is, should shut their browser right now because this page you're reading was downloaded to you computer. you bad bad person you, how dare you download. yeah, lets start a stigma around the word "download" to make it evil like hacker. thank the movie industry for making all hackers evil in the eyes of the general ignorant public.
ok, I'm done ranting for the moment.
I'm sorry, azxcvbnm321, but you are flat out WRONG! P2P has a whole host of legitimate uses. Take for example, World of Warcraft, quite possibly the most popular video game of all time. Blizzard distributes its World Of Warcraft patches via P2P. Linux has hosted sites, yes, but they actually prefer you use their torrent links, as that will reduce bandwidth costs for the distro owners, who, with a few exceptions, don't make hardly any money on their Linux distros.
Think back to the 80's. Dont be silly but a rubber on your willie. Antivirus is the condom of the internet. So far no itching LOL.
I'm not talking about downloading, I'm talking about P2P torrents. We all know 99% of the activity on P2P networks is pirating, sure there are legal torrents, but no one wants those.
Comcast isn't going to shut off your broadband because of the RIAA, they don't want you to use their system so much because it clogs up their network. That's slimy, but has nothing to do with the RIAA or pirating, they'd want to shut off heavy users regardless of what they're doing. It's because so many heavy users are piraters that they use the pirating excuse for PR reasons. It doesn't sound good to say that they don't want to provide certain people with the service they paid for.
As for the RIAA, they've been very friendly, perhaps too friendly. Time to start suing and taking the homes of piraters. They have every right to enforce their copyrights, the piraters are in the wrong. No I don't buy the lame "alienating their customers" excuse. If a bank robber were also a customer of the bank he was robbing, you'd be sure the bank ain't going to stand aside and allow him to rob the bank. Sure the bank will "alienate" the bank robber customer, but who wants that kind of customer anyway?
Linux isn't distributed for profit. The support service is how companies make money off of Linux, and if they want to use the P2P network, fine, but do they use The Piratebay and other well known pirate sites for torrents? Humm, you think the Piratebay may have something to do with pirating and that pirating is the #1 activity there? Come on, let's stop the BS, attacks on pirate sites should be supported and encouraged. Only good Samaritans can stop this kind of organized crime. Just like with the mob, it's hard to get enough evidence to convict a gangster. So best a good citizen just take a gun and start blowing em' away. That plot has been the subject of many a movie by the way.
@ azxcvbnm321
Perhaps I need to clarify,
"Downloading is wrong" (false)
"Pirating is wrong" (True)
Also, I don't think a virus or legal action is ever going to stop or suppress piracy. It's like training a dog, positive reinforcement works best, we just need to find says to do it like, download 100 songs (legally) and get a discount to see your favorite artist in concert(which would also make the industry more money because of merchandise at the event). Things that you can't pirate. get piracy down to a level where legal enforcement and implementing drm are more expensive then letting people rip and burn their music they paid for.
@ azxcvbnm321
Your best idea is "So best a good citizen just take a gun and start blowing em' away."" How is committing murder being a good citizen? How does committing an evil act against a self justified target become a good act?
We do agree - piracy is wrong. There is no question about that. But the moment one steps beyond certain bounds, they are no better than the criminals thye claim to despise. If police simply started shooting every person who smoked dope, they would be eliminating criminals while becoming criminals, so the problem doesn't get solved, it is exacerbated.
For the record, I hold copyrights (along with my partners) in video and print. I don't appreciate if people steal our work, neither do I think that someone who steals a book needs extreme punishment. We used to think that punishment should fit the crime. I would be satisfied with paying what is owed and then extensive community service to help teach them the value of working within a society. I do not believe that someone who downloads a number of songs illegally should be liable for thousands of dollars per song. That seems just as criminal as the original act - but beacuse men in suits said it was okay, it's allowed.
I think our values have skewed and need to be re-evaluated.
Also, please don't pull statistics out of thin air - give valid sources for your numbers. "We all know 99% of the activity on P2P networks is pirating, sure there are legal torrents, but no one wants those." No! We don't all know about this 99%. Where did you get this statistic? I freely admit I don't recall reading any source that gave out stats for torrents. I do know it is the preferred method of piracy, but I would like more than instant statistics. Let's build a real case against piracy.
We don't blame the car maker when a criminal uses a car in his crime. Let's not blame the technology for what thieves do with it. Otherwise we have to blame computer makers and operating system makers for the crimes committed with their technology as well.
Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now and let someone else have their shot at me. Thanks for reading.