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FBI Consults Computer Security Firm to Derail Hacker Bug

Aired June 9, 2000 - 1:03 p.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The FBI is holding meetings today with officials of a computer security company who say they've discovered a malicious program that could be used to launch a widespread cyber attack.

Our science correspondent, Ann Kellan, has been tracking the story, now joins us live here.

How vicious or malicious could it be? what do we know thus far?

ANN KELLAN, CNN SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it could be pretty much trouble if you get it. But apparently computer security experts in Virginia were eavesdroping on a group of devious pranksters who, they say, have been planting a malicious program in at least 2000 home and business computers.

Now the security experts of NetSec have been going over conversations that the suspected vandals had in a chat room. And they even isolated this program. Now the program masquerades as a movie clip, so if the person thinks their downloading this movie clip, there's no movie there.

The program is actually something that sneaks into their computer. It is accessing high-speed DSL line connections, cable modems, Internet lines that are on full time. And it turns the person's computer in what's called a zombie machine. And that means, basically, that they can take over your computer by remote control; which means they can gain access to your files. They can do a number of things.

And one of the things that they are worried about that they could do is launch attacks, denial-of-service attacks, I don't know if you remember that a few months this happened, where they set thousands of computers loose to go and inundate one or two Web sites, it shuts the Web sites down and so customers can't get in. So it could be a problem.

HEMMER: Yes, it seems rather insidious. How concerned should we be, if we, indeed are using computers that may be susceptible?

KELLAN: We always have to be suspicious of, you know, downloading anything from the Internet, because something like this can happen and that is always a concern, especially now. Because there is really few protections against it. You know, the minute fire walls are built to guard against it, you know, they're back at it again trying to break in. So it's always one of those things.

HEMMER: Good to know, all right. Thank you, Ann, have a good weekend.

KELLAN: You too.

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