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Nov. 1st, 2007 11:49 amIn news that I wish was more surprising: Botnet spamming has reportedly reared its ugly head in the presidential campaign. I see four possibilities:
1) It could be exactly what it looks like, a candidate using questionable methods to further their campaign.
2) It could be a "supporter" of the candidate doing this without the campaign's knowledge. Lends itself best to the type of supporter who support is based on something they don't want to acknowledge, such as a drug czar backing an anti drug candidate to keep the drugs illegal and their profits up.
3) It could be someone opposed to the candidate, counting on the average internet user's disgust at such techniques to generate a backlash against the candidate.
4) It could be an advertisement from the botnet's creator, showing off it's capabilities. If they could reasonably take credit for converting a longshot into a contender and then reveal their involvement (using the bot's name, not their own obviously) they would get national, and likely international, news coverage that would reach even those who pay no attention to the latest article in Wired or alert from Symantec.
I think 1 and 4 are the most likely possibilities myself.
1) It could be exactly what it looks like, a candidate using questionable methods to further their campaign.
2) It could be a "supporter" of the candidate doing this without the campaign's knowledge. Lends itself best to the type of supporter who support is based on something they don't want to acknowledge, such as a drug czar backing an anti drug candidate to keep the drugs illegal and their profits up.
3) It could be someone opposed to the candidate, counting on the average internet user's disgust at such techniques to generate a backlash against the candidate.
4) It could be an advertisement from the botnet's creator, showing off it's capabilities. If they could reasonably take credit for converting a longshot into a contender and then reveal their involvement (using the bot's name, not their own obviously) they would get national, and likely international, news coverage that would reach even those who pay no attention to the latest article in Wired or alert from Symantec.
I think 1 and 4 are the most likely possibilities myself.
