'Islamic Trojan' disrupts smut surfing

[NGONGE]

By John Leyden

Published Monday 5th September 2005 16:08 GMT

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Virus writers have created a Trojan horse which tries to disrupt visits the pornographic websites by displaying messages from the Koran.

 

The low-risk Yusufali-A Trojan horse monitors the websites Windows users are visiting. If the malware sees one of a set of trigger words (such as "teen", "sex" or "penis") in the url it minimises the window so the user cannot see its content and displays a message from the Koran instead. The message, partly written in Arabic, contains the following English text:

 

Yusufali: Know, therefore, that there is no god but Allah, and ask forgiveness for they fault, and for the men and women who believe: for Allah knows how ye move about and how ye dwell in your homes.

 

"Unlike other malware, it appears this Trojan horse isn't trying to steal money or confidential information, but acting as a moral guardian instead - blocking the viewing of websites it determines are unsavoury," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "Of course, it's possible for the Trojan horse to make mistakes and block sites that are not pornographic - such as medical sites, or social sites designed for teenagers."

 

 

Once the message is displayed the malware performs a variety of other actions before forcing infected users to shutdown. All very disconcerting but there's no need for undue alarm since the Yusufali-A Trojan is not yet in the wild. It's unclear whether the malware was written as a joke, or as a serious attempt to clean up the habits of internet users.

 

Malware featuring an Islamic theme is rare but not unprecedented. Previous examples have include the Mawanella worm which highlighted the friction between Muslims and Buddhists in Sri Lanka and the Cycle worm which contained a message about life in Iran. ®

 

 

Source

 

 

Insanity gone mad or a helpful reminder?

 

Would you consider the Trojan creator a control freak or a brother enjoining good?

[-Serenity-]

Once the message is displayed the malware performs a variety of other actions before forcing infected users to shutdown

Kix kix kix << bad Somali laughter. Oh the wonderful ways of technology! You gotta love the ingenuity and persistence of the bearded bunch…. They are are moving up with the times.

[NGONGE]

^^^^ Do you think they tailored it to each user’s ‘needs’?

 

You know, when someone types the words ‘gay sex’ they get a verse from Surat luut. Or if they just type ‘sex’ they get a verse about Zina, etc.

 

That would have been informative, original and very ingenious that even the seediest of porn lovers would have to dress up and behave themselves, methinks.

 

On the other hand, I still find the whole thing somewhat distasteful. Gives the phrase ‘word association’ a whole new meaning that does.

 

 

I better stop now...

[-Serenity-]

I don’t know what they did… but it shouldn’t be a Trojan. It should be a downloadable software if its to be given any credence. That way, it can the Islamic equivalent to NetNanny/CyberPatrol/ContentProtect for those who want. In Muslim countries, there is already a lot of filtering and proxy ban that goes on… so they are saved from all this. It could be quite useful for the Muslims in the west who want to teach their impressionable, curious prepubescent children a lesson or two.

 

I doubt it would work on adults. All thoughts of morality go out the window when some1 is in heat.

[shyhem]

^^

You two are not a fan of the Taliban, and the invention of the Burca.

[Johnny B]

Islamic trojan?

lemme know when a budhist one shows up.

i´ve lots of desire to get rid off

[-Serenity-]

Originally posted by shyhem:

^^

You two are not a fan of the Taliban, and the invention of the Burca.

You've concluded this from the little I wrote about trojans? Nice. Took me years to make others understand

[Kashafa]

I doubt it would work on adults. All thoughts of morality go out the window when some1 is in heat.

Only if one is a animal in heat. Humans have that nifty little device called self-control.

 

This idea would work perfectly for many Muslims.

As a matter of fact, if I recall correctly, the only thing that stopped Prophet Yuusuf (A.S) from gettin down with that woman, was a 'sign'. I think it was a vision of his father wagging his finger at him as a sign of displeasure.

 

Having your hard drive wiped out would be an extra incentive to stop visiting porn sites. School of Hard Knocks, see.

[-Serenity-]

^ U speak like people dont realize its wrong before watching porn. They do. And they do it regardless.

[Jacpher]

Islamic Trojan horse? What's next a Jihad virus?

 

7 of 9, people do worest things on the net than porno. Porno is addictive and no trojan is gonna cure it.

 

People should do good deeds out of love/fear of Allah, not others.

[Muhammad]

this may be another 'assumption' but i say this is the work of desi muslim teenager, who's beard has yet to be developed!

 

i doubt its the work of an organized group!

 

it rarely is.

[NGONGE]

^^^ It most likely is. Only an overzealous, easily excitable kid would think of such a thing and discreetly infect millions of computers under the mistaken belief that he’s doing GOOD.

 

I’m too straight and law-abiding to know if a ‘chill pill’ is something legal or not. But, if it were legal (and not Haram) I’d be passing it to all the well meaning but aggressive young men and women I meet in mosques all over the world.

 

The worrying thing is that not many people reading the article above can see the gravity of the intrusion. Many, I bet, think it’s a good thing too.

[Strawberry_Xu]

If these people were really serious about providing moral guidance, they would have been better served if the virus sent a message of warning whenever someone clicked on one of these sites and leave it up to the user to heed this warning or not.

 

I'm sure it makes no difference in the eyes of Allah whether you were prevented from seeing anything haraam, if you actually had the intention and the will to do so.

 

 

But still, I'm against invasion of privacy and those people who feel they are endowed with the responsibility of 'saving' people everywhere, whether they want to or not. I would say, as long no one forces porn on you, you shouldn't force religion on them.

 

Let people wrestle with their own moral dilemmas. If they want guidance, they'll ask.

[Kashafa]

Only an overzealous, easily excitable kid would think of such a thing and discreetly infect millions of computers under the mistaken belief that he’s doing GOOD

Forwarding this generous comment along with your IP address to the good brother(Jazaahullah Khayr) who invented the virus. Hayay.

[NGONGE]

^^^Forwarding? And Salaxuddiin thought you were a group