InfoWorld: Hackers set to convene, unleash NT Trojan horse

"Security companies and network administrators are clearing their weekend schedules and preparing to address the threat of the latest version of the BackOrifice hacking tool that is reportedly to be released this Saturday at the DefCon show in Las Vegas."

"At last year's DefCon, the group Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc) and a member code-named Sir Dystic, released BackOrifice as a Trojan horse program that once it is activated can provide remote access to Windows 95 and Windows 98 client machines. This year at DefCon, the cDc is promising to release a new version, called BackOrifice 2000 (BO2K), with the capability to access Windows NT machines, and will provide open source of the code."

"... we are going to be working here around the clock," said Gordon Twilegar, director of security strategies for Computer Associates..."

"That the cDc intends to release the tool as open source also worries security experts, because variations or combinations of the tool with viruses such as Melissa will be much easier to create."

Complete story.

Related Stories:

• PC World: Hacker Tool Targets Windows NT(Jul 03, 1999)
• Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) issues security summary(Feb 23, 1999)
• Could Linux be at risk from the "Back Orifice" Windows trojan?(Nov 28, 1998)