The Mother of all DDoS attacks looms

A distributed denial of service (DDoS) tool of the sort that made headlines this month by enabling intruders to interrupt service at high-profile Internet monuments like Yahoo, Excite and eBay has just been ported to the ubiquitous Win32 kernel, according to anti-virus outfit Trend Micro. The new tool, called Troj_Trin00, is capable of turning millions of Win-NT servers, along with individual Win-9x boxes connected to the Net via broadband connections -- which remain on constantly -- into unwitting clients for launching a spectacular wave of DDoS attacks. Not only can Troj_Trin00 exploit millions more boxes than its forebears could do, it can reach them more easily as well. The tool can be delivered as a trojan joined to seemingly innocuous files; it can be propagated as an e-mail attachment; or it can be installed and executed in the background by a malicious Active-X script. Previous versions had to be uploaded manually to a UNIX server or Linux box via an unprotected port. Port #111 on Solaris systems is a particular favourite, having a known and easily-exploitable weakness. But others can be found and exploited by performing a port scan. Automated tools exist to make it easy for a potential intruder to scan vast regions of bandwidth for vulnerable ports as a background operation, while doing other things, like going out to a movie, say. Easy as that sounds, things are now getting tremendously easier. No longer confined to the UNIX and Linux systems whose operators are at least minimally conscious of Internet architecture and network security procedures, the trojan edition of Trin00 is tailored specifically to exploit the innocent, point-and-drool 'Harry Homeowner' class of user, nearly all of whom depend on Win-9x and its plethora of dodgy default settings to get them connected. Once executed, Troj_Trin00 becomes resident in memory, waiting for the master server file it needs to function. In doing so, it opens port #34555 to welcome the malicious package and subsequent commands. Trend Micro reports that the trojan has already been seen in the wild. Detailed instructions for detecting and eliminating it are posted on the Trend Micro Web site. Meanwhile, The Register waits with bated breath for the Mother of all DDoS attacks to commence. See you in the fallout shelter.... ®