Of course, they'll deny it.

[foodog]

I've hatched a conspiracy theory this evening.  What if the Redmond
coders aren't security dolts, but a group of fiendishly clever CoreWars
masters?

Code Red was almost universally replaced with Code Red II.  I didn't see
a single Code Red II hit after about 10am today. Nimda ate 'em and is
the King Of The Hill in record time.  

Nimda plays on Win95, 98, ME, NT4 and Win2K, and gets bonus points for
special effects with MAPI, IIS, Outlook, Outlook Express, IE5, and even
Java.  It even shoots for extra media hype by mentioning China.  Wow. 
That's like building a working railgun with Lego Mindstorm.

I propose that MS has intentionally dropped hints to recruit players. 
Code Red / Redcode.  Can it be coincidence?  

disclaimer: I'm sleep deprived, over-caffeinated, on anti-snot meds, and
perhaps deep down may harbor unkind feelings toward Microsoft. 

Folklore-challenged individuals can learn about CoreWars from google.

Anyway, that is the theory which is mine.
Steve