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AV vendors shun MS bounty hunters

Blazing Saddles

Anti-virus vendors are resisting any involvement in Microsoft's scheme to offer rewards for the arrest and conviction of virus writers.

This week Microsoft placed two $250,000 bounties on the heads of the virus authors responsible for unleashing the infamous Sobig and Blaster worms this summer. The application of Wild West-style rewards on computer crimes is part of a wider Anti-Virus Reward Program, initially funded with $5 million from Microsoft.

Thus far this is a Microsoft-only initiative, but Redmond is encouraging "other corporations to consider ways to partner with law enforcement in deterring this illegal and destructive activity".

Once Upon a Time on the Net

So are anti-virus vendors (never shy of praising law enforcement when virus writers are convicted) willing to join Sheriff Steve Ballmer's anti-virus posse?

The answer would appear to be that, rather like the citizens in High Noon, AV vendors are sitting this one out.

Sophos said it had "no plans" to offer financial rewards for information leading to the arrest of virus writers. Symantec declined to comment. Network Associates and MessageLabs both welcomed Microsoft’s initiative but neither expressed any desire to become more closely involved.

Paul Wood, chief information security analyst at MessageLabs, said he welcomed Microsoft’s initiative as a way of deterring virus writers.

Microsoft was motivated in launching the initiative by the adverse publicity generated by recent viral outbreaks which has "damaged its credibility", he said. "Microsoft has to be seen doing something."

Microsoft has a clear financial incentive for making things difficult for virus writers, but the AV vendors have no such motivation. High-profile viruses stimulate AV software sales, particularly to consumers, despite the increasingly apparent shortcomings of the AV scanner model.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Leaving aside arguments about the possible effectiveness of Microsoft's program, MessageLabs' Wood agrees that it is hard to imagine the AV industry getting rid of a problem it was created to solve.

Doubtless, the vast majority of participants in the AV industry mean well, and we've never bought into the urban myth that AV companies are in any way involved in writing viruses, but we question their incentives to introduce technologies that clamp down on viral outbreaks.

David Emm, AVERT marketing manager at McAfee Security, said that technical researchers at AV firms have to go without sleep during viral outbreaks.

Maybe that's part of the problem. From years of experience we'd note that we never speak to happier people in the IT industry than AV marketing folk in the middle of a viral epidemic.

McAfee's Emm makes a decent fist of arguing that AV technology has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years (better management, heuristics etc.); even so, the security crisis is getting worse. To Network Associate's credit, the firm is revisiting the concept of behaviour blocking- technology. This, along with scanning for viruses on the Net before they reach users' in-boxes, seems to represent the best way forward.

"Behaviour analysis has come on leaps and bounds, so that it's no longer a burden on user. User desktops can be tied down by an admin more effectively using more sophisticated tools than we had ten years ago," Emm told El Reg.

Unforgiven

Back to Microsoft’s bounty on virus writers, Emm reckond it id too early to say if it will be effective.

"It hard to say whether virus writers would have scruples about dobbing in [informing on] a friend. Lack of scruples it one area doesn't always translate into another area," he said.

"But I think it will make virus authors more careful about bragging about their exploits. There's kudos to creating viruses in certain circles and Microsoft's reward might make people think twice about sounding off," said Emm.

Against this, Emm noted that the authors of Sobig and Blaster have kept a much lower profile than traditional virus authors.

A Fistful of Dollars

Emm reckons that the funding of Microsoft’s initiative with $5 million is evidence of its serious intent. "It's a lot of money for a simple publicity stunt," he said.

The bounty might "oil the wheels" of the criminal justice system, Emm said. Although he predicts increased co-operation between participants in the AV community and the police, Emm detects little willingness in the AV community as a whole that this will "translate further along to bounties and rewards". ®

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