Stealth Computing Abuses TCP Checksums

[Bill Stewart]

http://fyi.cnn.com/2001/TECH/internet/08/29/stealth.computing/index.html
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/08/29/199205&mode=thread

A group of researchers at Notre Dame figured out how to use the
TCP Checksum calculations to get other computers to do number-crunching for 
them.

	"Below, we present an implementation of a parasitic computer
	using the checksum function.  In order for this to occur,
	one needs to design a special message that coerces a target server
	into performing the desired computation."

The article has the amount of great mathematical depth you'd expect from 
CNN :-)
But it does say that the paper will be published in "Nature" this week.

It's a really cool hack, though not especially efficient for real work.

Of course, the Slashdot discussion follows typical structure -
there's an interesting technical suggestion (ICMP checksums may be usable
and are probably more efficient than TCP), some trolls and flamers,
the obligatory "Imagine a Beowulf Cluster of those!" comment,
and some speculation about the potential legalities and other uses for it.




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