Blitzkrieg server computer virus, part 3

Rob Rosenberger, Vmyths co-founder
Friday, 29 May 1998 I TOOK THIS snapshot today from FutureVision Group, the parent company behind the Blitzkrieg server computer virus. You'll notice they cite a Los Angeles Times copyright; they even use LATIMES.htm in the URL and link to the newspaper's website. (Click on the graphic for a full-screen image.)

Yet this news story oddly didn't show up when I searched the latimes.com archive, so I phoned the Los Angeles Times business desk. The editor I spoke with cautioned "I have not heard of that article" but agreed to search the newspaper's master archives. End result? "We did not run any such article." More oddly, Business Wire claimed a copyright on the same news story when they distributed it as a press release. They even used the same headline! Even more oddly, it lists AFCEA editor-in-chief Clarence Robinson and a PR wonk named Michael Robinson (any relation?) as points of contact for more details about Blitzkrieg. Okay, we can assume FutureVision Group doesn't own the copyright to this... this... press release? News story? Oh, never mind. We know they don't own the copyright to "it" because they would at least claim a copyright on their own website. So let's assume they correctly cited a Los Angeles Times copyright. This leads to some interesting questions:

Why doesn't it appear in the Los Angeles Times news archive?
Did Business Wire violate copyrights by reprinting a Los Angeles Times story without proper citation?
Why did Business Wire list AFCEA's editor-in-chief as the primary contact for more info?
Who wrote it in the first place? Who paid Business Wire to distribute it? (AFCEA perhaps?)

Did someone at FutureVision Group unethically credit the Los Angeles Times to make a press release look like a news story?

Now let's take the opposite track with FutureVision Group. Let's assume they incorrectly cited a Los Angeles Times copyright. It would mean Business Wire distributed nothing more than a press release, which (ta da!) is exactly what they do to make money. Yet FutureVision Group went to great lengths on their web page to associate the press release with the Los Angeles Times. This leads to some interesting questions:

Did someone at FutureVision Group unethically credit the Los Angeles Times to make it look like a news story?
Why did Business Wire list AFCEA's editor-in-chief as the primary contact for more info?
Who wrote it in the first place? Who paid Business Wire to distribute it? (AFCEA perhaps?)

PLEASE NOTE: CRYPT Newsletter editor George C. Smith originally blew the lid off the Blitzkrieg server computer virus. I just did some digging of my own. Please read his exposé if you haven't already. Speaking of Smith^[1]... he pointed out another Blitzkrieg story, this one published in London's Sunday Times newspaper. It seems the Blitzkrieg server can trace spam to its original source and can even "plant a virus" on those computers. Talk about a useful function!