SCO Offers Reward for Arrest and Conviction of Mydoom Virus Author
LINDON, Utah, Jan 27, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ — The SCO Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOX), the owner of the UNIX(R) operating system and a leading provider of UNIX-based solutions, today confirmed that it is experiencing a distributed Denial-of-Service (DDOS) attack. SCO announced that it is offering a reward of up to a total of $250,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual or individuals responsible for creating the Mydoom virus.
“During the past ten months SCO has been the target of several DDOS attacks,” said Darl McBride, president and CEO, The SCO Group, Inc. “This one is different and much more troubling, since it harms not just our company, but also damages the systems and productivity of a large number of other companies and organizations around the world. The perpetrator of this virus is attacking SCO, but hurting many others at the same time. We do not know the origins or reasons for this attack, although we have our suspicions. This is criminal activity and it must be stopped. To this end, SCO is offering a total of $250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for this crime.”
SCO is also working with U.S. law enforcement authorities including the U.S. Secret Service and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to determine the identity of the individual(s) involved. Anyone with this information may contact their local FBI office.
The Mydoom worm, also known as Novarg, is a mass-mailing worm that arrives as an attachment with the file extension .bat, .cmd, .exe, .pif, .scr, or .zip. When a user opens the attachment their computer becomes infected and uses their computer with the intention of connecting to the www.sco.com Web site on February 1, 2004. Network security firms including Network Associates and Symantec have already issued software updates to combat this particular worm.
About The SCO Group
The SCO Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOX) helps millions of customers in more than 82 countries to grow their businesses with UNIX business solutions. Headquartered in Lindon, Utah, SCO has a worldwide network of more than 11,000 resellers and 4,000 developers. SCO Global Services provides reliable localized support and services to all partners and customers. For more information on SCO products and services visit http://www.sco.com .
SCO and the associated SCO logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of The SCO Group, Inc., in the U.S. and other countries. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United States and other countries. All other brand or product names are or may be trademarks of, and are used to identify products or services of, their respective owners.