After reading this article’s title, I must admit that I was intrigued to see what this was all about.  It looks like the NSA has developed a zero-day attack platform in which it is hiring various talents to construct malware.  One of which (who was sent to prison for 7 years because of his malware) created his own, but soon realized that the NSA’s was much more potent.  This sector has probably been under development for quite some time, which begs the question: what kinds of malware have been created behind these closed doors?

A project aimed at developing defences against malware that attacks unpatched vulnerabilities involved tests on samples developed by the NSA.

The ultra-secretive US spy agency supplied network testing firm Iometrix with eight worms as part of its plans to develop what it describes as the industry’s first Zero-day Attack Test Platform.

Richard Dagnell, VP of sales and marketing at Iometrix, said the six month project also featured tests involving two worm samples developed by a convicted hacker. The potency of the malware supplied by the NSA far exceeded that created by the hacker.[more]

Tags: Malware