Released: May 02, 2008

Criminals try to ‘copyright’ malware

Source: Jordan Robertson, Associated Press (USA Today)

Even criminal hackers want to protect their intellectual property, and they’ve come up with a method akin to copyrighting — with an appropriate dash of Internet thuggery thrown in.

Professional virus writers are now selling a suite of software on the Internet with an unusual attachment: a detailed licensing agreement that promises penalties for redistributing the malicious code without permission.

“I just kind of chuckled — it’s kind of humorous,” said Zulfikar Ramzan, senior principal security researcher with Symantec.

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