FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Revolutionary Web-Application Launched to Combat Malicious Software
Community-based application facilitates open, collaborative analysis of
malware

NEW YORK, NY (PRWEB) August 8, 2006 – CULT OF THE DEAD COW (cDc), a prominent
technology activist group, proudly announces a new application designed to
collect, analyze, and ultimately help defeat malicious software (malware).
Accessible via OffensiveComputing.net, the application gives programmers and
end-users free access to a library of over 31,000 hostile software files,
including viruses, rootkits, spybots, worms, etc.  Users can upload an unknown
or suspicious file into the library, request a match, and instantly obtain
information on the malicious file, including an analysis of how it operates.

Valsmith and Danny Quist, founders of OffensiveComputing, recently unveiled
the new application at DefCon 14 to an audience of 1000+ in a speech entitled
"Hacking Malware:  Offense is the New Defense."  They were also interviewed
for "Web Warriors," a documentary by TellTale Productions that will detail the
escalating global battle against malware.

OffensiveComputing offers an environment where users can work together to
address the destructive effects of malware.  It provides full visibility into
the harmful files, building up the collective knowledge of its users and
facilitating the reverse engineering process.  It also suggests techniques to
help users defeat sophisticated malware protections such as encryption and
compression.

"Open analysis and collaboration are key to effectively fighting malware,"
notes Valsmith.  "ZDnet recently reported that, according to AusCERT,
commercially available anti-virus programs are only able to detect 20% of
malicious code.  Different AV programs fail in different ways, thus creating
an incomplete and fragmented picture of the malware in play today.  The
closed-source, closed analysis methods used by AV vendors have been woefully
inadequate, albeit extremely profitable."

"An 80% failure rate is unacceptable!" says cDc founder G. Ratte'.  "Computer
security can't be left up to greedy profiteers.  The AV vendors are fighting
each other for market share and the end-users are suffering.  The people
deserve better."

For more information on the new Offensive Computing application, contact
Valsmith@metasploit.com or Chamuco@gmail.com.

About CULT OF THE DEAD COW
Founded in Lubbock, TX, CULT OF THE DEAD COW (cDc) is the most influential
hacking group in the world.  The cDc alumni reads like a Who's Who of hacking
and includes a former Presidential advisor on Internet security, among
others.  The group is further distinguished by publishing the longest running
e-zine on the Internet [est. 1984], stretching the limits of the First
Amendment, and fighting anyone or any government that aspires to limit free
speech.

About OffensiveComputing
OffensiveComputing is a new independent organization, though it is affiliated
with both cDc and Metasploit.

URLs:
offensivecomputing.net
cultdeadcow.com
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_of_the_Dead_Cow

CONTACT:
press@hacktivismo.com

###

from http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/8/prweb421329.htm