The Daily Teaser — 2-11-2013: The Morris Worm

You you, it seems VERY appropriate — given today’s Teaser’s theme — that I mention span emails.

Yep: I’ve had another one slip through BT’s filters.

One, again, that claimed to be from BT itself: indeed, seemingly from BT’s own billing email address, was addressed to ‘Dear Customer’, and included NONE of the account details I’d’ve expected to see.

And one whose links lead STRAIGHT to a phising site that my version of Safari was abled to flag up.

I think I and my fellow BT users should keep our collective eyes peeled: and use the BT supplied email address — abuse@bt.com —whenever something like this crops up.

And given that the address the spam is from … ?   I think BT should possibly doing some investigating, too.

Let’s get a move on … 

~≈†≈~

Yesterday’s Teaser saw Debbi* putting in her answers: along with letting know she thought yesterday’s joke, she also bagged five out of seven.

Let’s see how she — and you — do with today’s wormy Teaser, shall we?   Here they are, along with the ‘How To,’ License and video … 

Q1) 2nd November saw the Morris Worm — the first computer worm to get mainstream media attention — released.   In which year of the 1980s … ?

Q2) More to the point, where was the worm released from: Johns Hopkins University, MIT, or Cornell … ?

Q3) The Worm was created by whom: Robert Morris, Johnny Morris or David Morris?

Q4) The Worm is — or was — an early piece of malware.   What is malware short for … ?

Q5) Computer worms spread by reproducing themselves.  Which type of malware spreads by disguising itself as something innocent … ?

Q6) A worm is also an example of infectious malware.   What’s the other sort … ?

Q7) Finally … if I’ve gained remote access to your computer, without needing a password from you, that’s known as what: a front door, back door or trap door … ?

Here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 1st November is All Saint’s Day: according to the Roman Catholic Church, it’s a Holy Day Of What … ?

A1) Obligation.  (Basically, if you’re a practicing Catholic you have to go to Mass, and do abstinence.)

Q2) The UK has four patron saints: one for each country of the UK.   Name one of those saints.

A2) Saint George, Saint Andrew, Saint Patrick and Saint David.

Q3) What’s the Jewish word for a saint … ?

A3) A tzadik.

Q4) What, in Islam, is the usual term for a saint … ?

A4) A wali.

Q5) Which denomination of christians call themselves Latter Day Saints … ?

A5) The Mormons.

Q6) Who’s the patron saint of the USA … ?

A6) Mary, as Our Lady Of The Immaculate Conception.

Q7) Finally … in 2006, some clergy suggested who as alternative patron saint of England: Saint Alba, Saint Albion or Saint Alban … ?

A7) Saint Alban.

Enjoy those.

I’ll leave you with this observation …

“Our examination of computer viruses leads us to the conclusion that they are very close to what we might define as ‘artificial life.’ Rather than representing a scientific achievement, this probably represents a flaw in our definition.”

Gene Spafford, one of the first people to analyse the Morris Worm, writing in Artificial Life II, Studies in the Sciences of Complexity, vol. XII.

And with this tune about worms … 

Have a good day.

*        Glad you liked it, Debbi: and I’ll let her know, as soon as I see her … !