The Real-Life Impact Of Zombied Computers
Monday, December 29, 2008
If you're still wondering why securing your computer matters, you might be interested in this recent article. Hacking is not limited to Russia and as the article notes, cyber attacks are increasingly being used to achieve political as well as financial gain.
Your computer may well be part of the "cyber-criminal ecosystem," if it is has become a zombie controlled by rogue software. Protecting our computers now affects others in real-life ways.
Don't forget our four legs of the computer security chair, and be sure to sign up for the email version of Triona's Tech Tips for the latest computer bulletins. And have a happy and safe New Year!
Not long ago, the simple, anonymous thrill of exposing chinks in American software was enough of a payoff for a Russian hacker. Today it's cash. And almost all the targets are in the United States and Europe, where Russia's notorious hackers pilfer online bank accounts, swipe social security numbers, steal credit card data and peek at e-mail log-ins and passwords as part of what some estimate to be a $100 billion-a-year global cyber-crime business.
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Yevgeny Kaspersky, chief executive of Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab, one of the world's leading computer security firms, says Russian hacking flourishes as "a cyber-criminal ecosystem" of spammers, identity thieves and "botnets," vast networks of infected computers controlled remotely and used to spread spam, denial-of-service attacks or other malicious programs. A denial-of-service attack floods a Web site with inquiries, forcing its shutdown.
Posted byTriona Guidry at 6:41 AM
Labels: antivirus, Internet, keyloggers, mac, phishing, spyware, windows