Current Event 10
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/cnet/2006-11-06-wikipedia-virus_x.htmBy Tom Espiner
November 6, 2006
Hackers placed a link to malicious code on the German version of Wikipedia. The article was for the W32.Blaster worm, and it included false information about a new version of the Lovesan/MS Blaster worm, with links to a fix, which turned out to be malicious code. Wikipedia removed the links once they were discovered, but Wikipedia archives old versions of articles, so the hackers were still able to send links to those entries through a mass-mailed e-mail. Wikipedia confirmed that it has erased all versions of the page.
Those involved are the website Wikipedia, the hackers who placed the code on Wikipedia, and the anti-virus vendor Sophos.
This affects people who clicked on the link thinking they were downloading a fix for the worm.
The ethical issue addressed is hacking and spreading malicious code.
The impact to society is that many people use Wikipedia, so if more hackers get this idea, they could load malicious code pretty much anywhere on the site.
This is a very very bad thing, especially because Wikipedia is so widely used. I use Wikipedia quite often, so I am now going to be leery about what I click on.
November 6, 2006
Hackers placed a link to malicious code on the German version of Wikipedia. The article was for the W32.Blaster worm, and it included false information about a new version of the Lovesan/MS Blaster worm, with links to a fix, which turned out to be malicious code. Wikipedia removed the links once they were discovered, but Wikipedia archives old versions of articles, so the hackers were still able to send links to those entries through a mass-mailed e-mail. Wikipedia confirmed that it has erased all versions of the page.
Those involved are the website Wikipedia, the hackers who placed the code on Wikipedia, and the anti-virus vendor Sophos.
This affects people who clicked on the link thinking they were downloading a fix for the worm.
The ethical issue addressed is hacking and spreading malicious code.
The impact to society is that many people use Wikipedia, so if more hackers get this idea, they could load malicious code pretty much anywhere on the site.
This is a very very bad thing, especially because Wikipedia is so widely used. I use Wikipedia quite often, so I am now going to be leery about what I click on.
posted by Emily @ 4:04 PM
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