The internet is the playground for all sorts of ne'er-do-wells. The time will come when hostile governments or terrorist groups will unleash damaging software that will infiltrate and destroy precious information.
There should be no expectation of privacy or anonymity for anyone who is an active internet user. I long ago gave up my expectations in favor of the convenience, power and sheer awe of what's possible online.
Nevertheless, keep your firewalls strong, your backups current and your anti-virus software up to date!!
"...Researchers speculate that the computer could be employed to generate vast amounts of spam; it could steal information like passwords and logins by capturing keystrokes on infected computers; it could deliver fake antivirus warnings to trick naïve users into believing their computers are infected and persuading them to pay by credit card to have the infection removed.
There is also a different possibility that concerns the researchers: That the program was not designed by a criminal gang, but instead by an intelligence agency or the military of some country to monitor or disable an enemy’s computers. Networks of infected computers, or botnets, were used widely as weapons in conflicts in Estonia in 2007 and in Georgia last year, and in more recent attacks against South Korean and United States government agencies. Recent attacks that temporarily crippled Twitter and Facebook were believed to have had political overtones."
No comments:
Post a Comment