Stupid Zombie Tricks

Professor John Aycock (University of Calgary)


ABSTRACT

Do you really know what your computer is doing? Maybe you don't - your computer could be a "zombie" thanks to malicious software. "Bad guys" amass huge networks of zombie computers, ready to do the bad guys' bidding unbeknownst to the computers' real owners. I'll explain how this all works, and describe some typical applications of zombie networks: sending spam and launching distributed denial-of-service attacks.

In an effort to stay a step ahead of the bad guys, we've been looking at new threats from zombie networks which have not yet been seen in the wild. I'll present two of these: preventing analysis of malicious software, and sending spam that is much more deceptive. Find out what defensive measures can be taken now against these threats.

BIOGRAPHY

John Aycock is an assistant professor at the University of Calgary in the Department of Computer Science. He received a B.Sc. from the University of Calgary, and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the University of Victoria. He researches computer security and compilers, and conceived and taught the University's "Computer Viruses and Malware" and "Spam and Spyware" courses.