| MS Bounty |
10 November 2003
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Microsoft Offers Bounty for Virus Hunters
In what will either become a standard in the industry or a disaster, Microsoft has announced that it is setting aside $5 million to fight computer viruses. There are two $250,000 rewards for information that leads to the arrest of the writers of the Blaster worm and SoBig.F e-mail viruses. Success depends on which branch of economics prevails.
The straightforward thinking here is that, for enough money, people who have some evidence of wrong-doing by others will come forward because the cash offer maximizes the utility of the person ratting on their colleague. This is the traditional approach used to catch other criminals -- and those who write viruses are indeed criminals.
They are, however, a rather special breed of crook. They are not motivated by money as a bank robber is, but rather by the notoriety the get from trashing thousands of computers at once. They may well use the bounty on their heads as a scorecard -- who's worth more? This school of thought suggests that the bounty makes really evil viruses more likely because of the competition factor.
Finally, what about those who view bounty-hunting as a business? Such men might have been needed in the Wild West might have been appropriate because there was no formal legal body to investigate and arrest, but in cyberspace, one has more than enough legal investigation. Stalin forever changed the idea of informing. The possibility that this bounty system will be abused is more than remote.
Something needs to be done about computer viruses, and credit where credit is due, Microsoft may be onto something. On the other hand, this might be like many of the company's plans -- a nice idea that someone else may someday get to work if they tinker long enough.
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