Microsoft Shows Off Prototypes to Blunt Network Attacks
Microsoft Research is showing off prototypes for two security projects aimed at containing zero-day Internet worms and thwarting malicious code execution attacks. At the company's annual TechFest event in Redmond, Wash., Microsoft Corp. engineers presented the first glimpse of a new technology code-named Vigilante that proposes a brand-new approach to automate worm containment.
The Vigilante project is specifically geared toward containing fast-spreading worms that exploit unknown software vulnerabilities.
Vigilante uses a "honey pot" architecture to trap malicious attacks and, once a network worm is detected, self-certifying alerts are generated with details on how to thwart the threat. The alerts, researchers say, eliminate the need for hosts to trust each other and enable hosts to run diverse detection engines and to spread detection load.
