Shostack + Friends Blog Archive

 

A flame about flame

CNET ran a truly ridiculous article last week titled
“Flame can sabotage computers by deleting files, says Symantec”. And if that’s not goofy enough, the post opens with

The virus can not only steal data but disrupt computers by removing critical files, says a Symantec researcher.

ZOMG! A virus that deletes files! Now that is cutting edge technology! It’s shit articles like this that reifies the belief that the security industry in general and the AV industry in specific is filled with people who are completely out of touch with the rest of the world.

“These guys have the capability to delete everything on the computer,” Thakur said, according to Reuters. “This is not something that is theoretical. It is absolutely there.”

ProTip to Symantec and Reuters, viruses have been doing this since at least the 80s. Are you really that desperate for yet another story that this is the level that this is the sort of thing you feel is worthy of a press release and news article. How about you save that time and effort and instead focus on making a product that works better.