427 Botnet fm qxd

www.syngress.com/solutions
and click on the 
“Ask the Author”
form. 
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Q: 
How much is the Microsoft bounty for virus authors and how do I get
me some?
A: 
In 2003, Microsoft established a $5 million antivirus reward program.
Microsoft periodically announces that it is offering a bounty for informa-
tion leading to the arrest and conviction of authors of a specific virus.
Rewards of $250,000 have been paid for the creator of the Sasser worm.
Today, awards are posted for the authors of the SoBig virus and the Blaster
worm. If you have information about a virus that Microsoft has offered a
bounty for, you should contact law enforcement. From the Microsoft
Q&A page regarding the bounty (www.microsoft.com/presspass/fea-
tures/2003/nov03/11-05AntiVirusQA.mspx) “Persons with information
should go directly to the law enforcement agencies by calling their local
FBI (www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/fo.htm) or Secret Service office, or the
Interpol National Central Bureau (www.interpol.int) in any of Interpol’s
181 member countries, or by going to the FBI Internet Fraud Complaint
Center Web site (www.ic3.gov).” The Microsoft Web page for informa-
tion about current rewards is located at www.microsoft.com/security/
antivirus/default.mspx.
www.syngress.com
Botnets: A Call to Action • Chapter 1
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Botnets Overview
If only it were possible to reproduce yourself
a million times over so that you can achieve
a million times more than you can today.
—Dr. Joseph Goebbels, Propaganda Minister
for Nazi Germany; from the 15 Feb 1943
entry in his personal diary.