System i systems management and security-focused company Bytware has created a viral marketing campaign designed to draw attention to PHP and security issues the open scripting language might bring to the System i world.

The campaign, in the form of a scavenger hunt game, starts at http://www.i5virus.com which sets the scene of a mystery users have to solve, namely to track down the criminals behind an attack against fictitious enterprise Silic Financial. The game begins with a cute YouTube video, complete with thumping soundtrack.

While Bytware offers a security package called StandGuard Network Security and StandGuard Anti-Virus, the company’s focus here is on driving awareness.

“With Zend PHP on System i, it has become possible for hackers to exploit known PHP bugs to gain unauthorised access to the system. PHP can provide you with many benefits, but it’s important security is properly configured,” says Bytware’s marketing director Christopher Jones.

Zend Technologies is touted as the leading provider of products and services for developing, deploying and managing business-critical PHP applications. PHP is used by 20+ million web sites and has become the most popular language for building dynamic web applications. Deployed at 15,000+ companies worldwide, the Zend family of products is described as a comprehensive platform for supporting the lifecycle of PHP applications.

In addition to tracking down cyber criminals (and possibly winning prizes), entrants can also increase their knowledge of security issues, including the use of PHP on System i, gaining information that can be used to better protect systems and the organisation.

“The campaign grew out of an original suggestion that we host a scavenger hunt as an autumn promotion,” says Jones. “Bytware’s president Christine Grant and I came up with the original idea, and I took that seed and developed things into what you see now, incorporating YouTube and taking a more visually rich and interactive approach."

The player takes the role of an investigator with the SIS&CE, a fictional virus and cyber crime investigation unit created for the game. The game is played through a green screen interface and desktop workspace (a physical desktop, not a computer) and players must interact with items scattered around the desk.

“Players must go through a series of steps in which they visit the websites of IBM, McAfee, Bytware, PHP-Security.org, YouTube, and The Houston Record, a game site for a promotion we did in 2004,” explains Jones. “At each site they must read specific information about PHP, security, malicious code, regulatory compliance, etcetera to find information needed to answer a question in the game system. Answering correctly delivers the next instructions.”

At the end, the player can submit an entry for the prize draw on December 12, with a chance to win a Nintendo Wii and iTunes gift cards.

“Traffic for the first week has been excellent -- we’ve had 355 visitors to the game site, 3,252 page views, and 393 views of the YouTube video. Visitors came from over 24 countries, with 63% of traffic coming from North America, 21% from Europe, almost 4% from Australia/NZ, 10% from Asia, and the rest from South America and Africa,” says Jones.

“We have another seven weeks for the game to run. We could pull in 750 visitors to the game site, 7,500 page views, and 750 views of the video. The game is intentionally not easy to run across online because we want to keep it focused on the intended target audience.”

Bytware products are available in the UK through CHH Consulting and REAL Solutions.

CHH Consulting’s Bernard Hesford says: “Anything that can wake up the iSeries base to a greater focus on security is a good thing. For too long, the iSeries base has relied on iSeries being rock solid on security and therefore no need to do anything. But with nearly all iSeries being connected to the internet and participating in the open world of interconnections with customers, suppliers and partners, things have changed significantly. They need some readily affordable tools to assist them. Bytware provides that.”

Frank Booty, industry reporter