060. ILOVEYOU in "Hardcore Software" …rdcoresoftware.learningbyshipping.com/p/060-iloveyou // I was just at home when a reporter called me anxiously saying "I love you". It was weird. The world of email was under attack. It was a worldwide denial of service attack enabled by Office. This is the story. 1/
2/ The post takes you on a "Cuckoo's Egg" adventure as @markoff works with a source (a super talented engineer at a company we partnered with on Visual C++) to connect wildly unrelated dots.
a) a feature in Office that stamped documents with a unique ID so we could do linkfixup.
a) a feature in Office that stamped documents with a unique ID so we could do linkfixup.
3/ and b) clues about the script used to infect other PCs.
The attack was not particularly sophisticated. But the damage was incredibly bad.
BILLIONS of dollars.
The attack was not particularly sophisticated. But the damage was incredibly bad.
BILLIONS of dollars.
4/ This post is an exciting detective case. Importantly it offers valuable lessons in crisis management.
The worm/virus was using Office *exactly* how it was designed. People did incredibly useful stuff with the extensibility in Office. People=valuable enterprise customers.
The worm/virus was using Office *exactly* how it was designed. People did incredibly useful stuff with the extensibility in Office. People=valuable enterprise customers.
5/ A whole industry grew using Outlook as a CRM platform that automated contacts or to do small business bulk emailing driven by simple scripting.
Now a "bad actor" was getting in the way of utility. If we turned this off, we'd be a commodity mail client. And upset Customers.
Now a "bad actor" was getting in the way of utility. If we turned this off, we'd be a commodity mail client. And upset Customers.
6/ We did not have a lot of time to respond. The world (as it were) was on fire. The defense department was going crazy as they had just signed a monster deal for Outlook/Exchange.
And "on fire" because servers were overwhelmed due to the worm nature of the attack.
And "on fire" because servers were overwhelmed due to the worm nature of the attack.
7/ What is it like to have to decide between the utility of your product and features customers love and were asking for and safety and security in the market?
It seems easy but when the core beliefs and culture are questioned it is tough.
It seems easy but when the core beliefs and culture are questioned it is tough.
8/ If you really want to get into it you can see the nostalgic congressional hearing on the worm. Amazing as it sounds it took place just days after the attack. The questions were mostly good with a real substantial discourse.
9/ Please consider subscribing. Join over 12,000 and receive the posts by email. It is great fun. …rdcoresoftware.learningbyshipping.com
Next up, who the heck is a "General Protection Fault" and what army are they general of?
Next up, who the heck is a "General Protection Fault" and what army are they general of?
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
