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Information regarding the registration of the domain xrobots.net provided by the self-proclaimed author of the Gaixinh virus to prove his identity |
“I wrote that bot not for malicious purposes, but simply to test how vulnerable systems are to DoS attacks via a botnet. I was surprised by the speed of its spread and the level of awareness among users,” said an individual claiming to be the author of the Gaixinh virus.
Information regarding the registration of the domain xrobots.net was provided by the Gaixinh virus author to establish his identity.
In a letter sent to the editorial office today, starting with the phrase: “Sorry to everyone“, the person wrote: “I am the one who wrote the initial code for my xRobots program, which has now come to be known as Gaixinh. I study security and recently began exploring ways to prevent DoS attacks and the use of botnets for DoS purposes“.
“As you can see, aside from its ability to spread, the virus does not have a significant impact. I do not create difficulties for removing it from systems. However, in reality, it has caused a lot of inconvenience to many people and has been warned about at a serious level. I deeply regret that and truly apologize to everyone“.
In a conversation with reporters, this individual mentioned that the dissemination of the virus links was just one of many experiments he had conducted. However, he did not anticipate the massive spread of Gaixinh, estimating that only 1,000 PCs would be infected. “In previous instances, after ‘finishing the job’, I could command the virus to self-destruct. But this time, that was not possible“, the Gaixinh author admitted.
This person also confirmed that he has now secured his entire system and expressed a desire to use his certain experiences in preventing DoS attacks, in addition to old methods like Ping of Death, SYN, or x-Flash in Vietnam, or his own botnet to assist DoS victims via… email.
The Cybersecurity Center of Hanoi University of Science and Technology (BKIS) confirmed that the information provided by this mysterious figure matched BKIS’s verifications, proving that he is indeed the true author of the Gaixinh virus. “We confronted him over the phone, and he admitted all wrongdoing. He is a student at a major university in Hanoi,” revealed Mr. Nguyễn Tử Quảng, Director of BKIS. “For now, BKIS has issued a warning to this individual. We will need to coordinate with law enforcement regarding further actions“.
To date, according to BKIS statistics, approximately 20,000 computers in Vietnam have been infected by the Gaixinh virus.
