How bad is the Skype botnet threat? Skype's sneakiness leads to a security risk

[mandy]

Voice-over-IP apps could be used to cloak networks of zombies, used to launch denial of service attacks, a Cambridge professor has warned.

Armies of ordinary PCs - "botnets" - that have been infected by a virus and put under malicious control, could be controlled and orchestrated by messages hidden in VoIP traffic generated by programs such as Skype, warned Jon Crowcroft, Marconi professor of communications systems at Cambridge University...

The attack will add to the unease enterprise IT staff already feel about applications, particularly the very popular Skype service. Some IT managers do not want uncontrolled traffic punching holes in their firewalls, and using bandwidth, and security vendors have launched specific products to block Skype...

full article: http://www.techworld.com/security/news/i...ewsID=5232&inkc=0%3CBR%3E%3C/P%3E%3CP%3E

The revelation that VoIP traffic can be used as a covert control channel for a botnet is just one more security worry for Skype. It will add to opposition to Skype traffic from IT managers that don't want it on their networks.

In the botnet threat, Skype is not the threat itself, but a tool others might use. In a "botnet" a set of PCs are infected with Trojan software; they can then be controlled remotely and used to launch a denial of service attack on any victim. Skype is therefore being hijacked as the channel though which these bots can be given instructions.

full article: http://www.techworld.com/security/featur...ureID=2199

[xppman]

So where can we get this "Trojan software"?

I have a GREAT idea that would put some of us rabble rousers front and center. LOL

Just kidding....