Zombie Networks (aka Botnets) - A Serious Little-Known Threat

What is a zombie computer?
A zombie computer, also known as a bot, is a computer that has been infected by a malware, often a trojan, allowing an attacker to take control of the compromised PC and use it to serve malicious purposes like sending spam, hosting illegal websites or launching DDoS attacks.

DDoS what?
DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks are launched with the aim of crashing a server by flooding it with packets of data. DDoS attacks are effective and dangerous because the traffic can rise from hundreds of thousands of zombies; users are not even aware that they participate at an attack. Imagine your server being bombarded by so much zombies!

Those who are not worried should reconsider their position: an expert estimated that zombie networks count between one million and two million infected machines! And, each day, this number increases dramatically! Yours could really be in!

Another side effect of zombie networks: SPAM!
Who never received spam in their email box? Did you ever wonder why spammers almost never get arrested? Reasons are numerous; however, remember that they often use stolen resources, such as zombie computers, or get protected by corrupt Internet service providers (ISPs) in some foreign countries. That, and many other tricks to obfuscate their traces, makes it a challenge to catch them.

My personal privacy could be at risk?
In fact, not really. Contrary to popular myth, most of attackers are not interested in your latest secret trip with your boyfriend; what they want is your Internet bandwidth and sensitive data like your passwords to commit their crimes!

Maybe you ask yourself: "I have no important accounts and I don't care about my bandwidth being stolen. So, what's the deal?"

Hypocrite and selfish question: on the Internet, what you do affect everyone. And, as you can see, botnets are a major danger poisoning the entire network. Will you let a complete stranger "borrow" your car for a hold-up? No. Same goes for your computer.

My computer is fine; it's not slow at all!
Attackers do not want you to know that your machine fell under their control. Yet, if you are severely infected, you can notice symptoms like unwanted pop-ups, hijacking of your browser, slow-downs, etc.

In all cases, be sure to scan your computer every week with an anti-virus and an anti-spyware. Do not forget a firewall or you will be infected in less than 30 minutes.

It is possible to avoid being infected?
Sure thing! Spend a bit of time to learn how to use a computer; scan emails, web pages, downloads and your hard drive for nasty stuff; resist the temptation to revise your human anatomy on doubtful sites; think before clicking and you should be in business!

If you do not put the effort, you will get infected each time.

Webmaster of DesinfectPC: http://desinfectpc.com
Loves computers, writing and politic.

Free Spyware Removal - Don't Believe the Hype!

Are free spyware removal tools really effective? Do they keep your computer clean and protect you from the constant threat of spyware and adware all of us as Internet users face?

Unfortunately, and contrary to what most people believe - the answer is absolutely not.

Industry experts estimate that over 90% of all Internet users will get infected with spyware while online. Given that fact, it is becoming extremely important that we properly protect ourselves and unfortunately, the reality about free spyware removal tools is that they are not nearly as effective as software that might cost you a mere $30 to download.

Most Internet users unfortunately do not understand the difference between free spyware removal tools and the tools that are not free because if they did, they wouldn't think twice about getting their hands on paid software versus thinking they get enough protection from the freebies. The reason I say this is because there is a very large difference between the scanning methods that free and paid spyware removal tools use.

Free spyware remover tools depend on observing the history of your computer's operating system and registry to find spyware infections. In other words, it scans common locations where spyware installs itself and then examines the files and entries to conclude if any changes have taken place and then analyzes those findings to determine if an infection is present.

The issue with this type of detection is twofold. First, the software often reports false positives - which means that it can report authentic files and registry entries as spyware and in some cases if these files are removed this can cause even more damage to your computer and can even make it unusable.

The second problem is that free spyware removal tools neglect to detect a fairly large number of spyware infections, including much of the newest spyware that has been written primarily because of the ever changing nature of programming and hackers exploiting more and more security glitches in software and applications. This results in many of the most dangerous spyware ignored and left running on your computer. With paid spyware removal tools, you rarely see this at all because the method in which they detect and remove spyware is very different.

Most paid spyware removers are more effective than the free tools because they depend on a database of known spyware programs when scanning your computer. In other words, instead of simply looking for changes in files, the software will compare each file scanned against a database to determine if it is a legitimate file or if it is spyware. This is important because it minimizes the amount of false positives but even more importantly, it significantly increases the accuracy of spyware detected and removed which means a greater level of protection for users.

Another important factor to consider is that paid spyware removal tools reinvest much of the money they take in from sales back into research and development of their spyware database and many of the top vendors update their databases at least a couple of times per week and allow you to download those updates for free so you are always current in being protected from even the newest of spyware programs.

So the next time you have a spyware infection, and you undoubtedly will, you'll want to think about whether it is worth the $30 price tag to get a proven and effective spyware removal tool or just use the free tools. If you choose the second option, be prepared to fight an infinite spyware battle where you'll always be fighting pop-ups, always suffering from a slow computer, and constantly putting yourself at a higher risk for identity theft.

From my perspective, the choice is a no-brainer.

Paul McDonald is a Computer Professional that specializes in teaching people about spyware. Visit his info packed website today, the Best Spyware Removers to get a no holds barred review of the absolute best spyware removers available and download your free report "PC Protection :Keeping Your Computer Clean and Your Identity Safe"

Don't forget to get your free copy of his report "PC Protection" by submitting your email when visiting his site.

The Importance of Encryption Over Public Networks

Public Wi-Fi networks are everywhere today. The nearest hot-spot in your city is probably only a block away. With so many employees on the road and working out of the office today, IT departments are finding the need to provide external access to network resources. The need to stay productive while out of the office is crucial.

Anytime an end-user is accessing corporate data on a public network, security is a big concern. You never know when your confidential data may be compromised. If your company provides access to data from outside of the corporate environment, you must make sure that you take the necessary steps to ensure that data is secure.

When on a public network, any data that is sent to and from an end-user's laptop is generally visible to anyone else that is on that same public Wi-Fi network. What this means is that those traffic streams are open to what is called a man-in-the-middle attack. A man-in-the-middle attack utilizes a natural security flaw in the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP). The flaw allows an attacker to secretly respond to an ARP request of a computer initiating a connection with another node. The attacker then makes private independent connections with the two nodes. Once this is done then all traffic is relayed through the attackers computer and the end-user will be unaware that this has occurred. If this attack is done between a laptop and an internet gateway, then that attack is able to sniff every packet that the end-user sends out to the internet, including confidential corporate data.

So how do you protect your private data from attacks like these? Encryption is one of your biggest defenses. However you decide to provide access to network resources to employees on the road, whether it be via a VPN or a web portal, encryption is a must. If your company uses VPN software to provide access to the network from outside it, then once the VPN tunnel is negotiated all traffic that is passed between the laptop and the corporate network is encrypted. This means that even if the attacker were to sniff out those packets sent, they will be encrypted and the attacker will find it nearly impossible to gain access to that data without knowing the key used to encrypt it.

If your company uses a secure web portal to provide access to network resources, then there are a few things that should be known. First off, most web portals that are secured using the HTTPS protocol use certificates to authenticate the encryption process. If the attacker is using the right tools, he or she can send a spoof certificate to the end-user. If the end-user accepts this certificate, then they will be opening secure communications with the attacker. The attacker then sends the real certificate request on to the corporate web server and opens secure communication with the web server. Once this is done, then the attacker is able to see all traffic that the end-user sends before it is encrypted and sent on to the corporate web server. To prevent this, it is important that you use certificates that are generated from trusted sources such as Verisign or Geotrust. Then if the end-user receives a certificate that is from an untrusted source, the end-user will be alerted to this.

It goes without saying that any end-user that is going to be accessing corporate data from outside the internal network should be trained on basic security. With the proper security infrastructure in place and users trained, then the IT staff should be able to rest easy knowing that corporate data is safe.

Aaron Guhl is an IT professional that specializes in security. He frequently writes on his blog regarding security issues to help IT professionals get a better understanding of security in their networks. Visit his website at: Security Enabled Network

Poke the Spying Eye - Sanctions Against Spyware

Spyware is one of the biggest problems to ever infest he lives of Internet users in addition to viruses and trojans. And there have been many concerted efforts from many sectors to control and inhibit the effect of this phenomenon that violates user privacy and impairs the surfing experience of thousands of people worldwide.

In criminal law, unauthorized access to a person's computer is illegal under computer crime laws. Since many owners would justifiably claim that they never authorized the installation of spyware, a prima facie of this would suggest that the promulgation of spyware is a criminal act. Law enforcement has gone after many malware developers, especially for viruses but spyware producers are rarely prosecuted. Some lawsuits have been served though. Some US States including Iowa and Washington have passed laws rendering some forms of spyware illegal. And in 2005, United States lawmakers introduced the Internet Spyware Prevention Act, meant to imprison the creators of spyware.

Eliot Spitzer, the former New York state Attorney General and Governor has pursued spyware companies in the past for fraudulent installation of software. The California firm Intermix Media Inc. ended up settling with a payment of US$7.5 million and a promise to never spread spyware again. The hijacking of Web advertisements has also led to a litigation with a big number of web publishers suing Claria for replacing advertisements. A settlement was reached outside of court.

With all these measures in place, it's ironically still not easy to keep your computer free of spyware.

If you'd like to know more about getting rid of the threat known as spyware and other kinds of menaces in your life, be sure to visit: http://www.howtogetridofstuff.com/computer-problems/how-to-get-rid-of-spyware

Things You Should Know About Spyware

Most people who have spyware on their computers and laptops do not even realize it. The spyware lurks in the background doing it deeds within the shadows of their computer's hard drives.

Sadly, most are unaware of what spyware can do, the types of damage it can potentially cause and measures that can be taken to protect yourself from these annoying programs. This article will offer answers that will clarify what spyware is and tips you can use to protect yourself from spyware in the future.

What Exactly Is Spyware?

Spyware are computer programs that exist on your computer's hard drive. They come in a variety of types and flavors. Some spyware simply lurk in the shadows of your hard drive, watching your browser and taking notes of which websites you visit.

Often, it then communicates what it finds to other parties by using your internet access. Other spyware watch and take note of your keystrokes whenever you visit a financial services website.

Knowing as "keyloggers," this type of spyware then sends your sensitive financial information (including your username and passwords) to other parties across the internet.

How Does Spyware Get Installed?

Most often, spyware is downloaded through the internet. Sometimes, the download occurs when a user knowingly downloads another piece of software and the spyware is attached and enjoys a "free ride" on the user's hard drive. Other times, spyware can be downloaded by visiting websites.

Known as "drive by's," these downloads happen automatically without the user's permission once a user has simply visited a particular website.

Is Spyware Dangerous?

While not all spyware is necessarily dangerous, it does represent a risk because of the damage it is capable of doing. For example, the spyware that watches your keystrokes when you visit financial websites and then communicates this data to other unknown parties exposes you and your financial livelihood to risk.

These other parties can then potentially access your bank, investment and loan accounts online without your knowledge or permission, wreaking havoc. Other types of spyware can actually gain control of your computer and distribute that control to other parties. As a result, unknown parties can potentially gain access to any sensitive data on your hard drive.

How Can Your Protect Your Computer From Spyware?

The most effective way to protect you and your computer from spyware is to use a computer program that is designed specifically to identify and get rid of such bugs. Such programs include the well-regarded Spybot - Search and Destroy software. These types of programs are increasingly helpful as spyware creators become more savvy.

Some spyware tries to mask or disguise its presence on your hard drive by appearing as an anti-spyware program. That can make them difficult to identify and remove. Fortunately, dedicated programs like Spybot are constantly updated with the latest version of spyware that are being circulated. This allows it to keep up with new spyware, helping it to easily identify and remove them.

If you have never scanned your system, there is a good chance that you have a spyware program lurking on your hard drive. It could be relatively benign, content to simply exist.

Or, it could be maliciously communicating your sensitive data to outside parties. Use a dedicated spyware removal program such as Spybot - Search and Destroy to get rid of these bugs before they cause any significant damage.

Alojate.com is the premier web hosting company in Mexico, offering a range or services for all business needs.

The people of The Bored IT suffer a lot from lack of excitement because of our Dedicated Server Provider. Find out more in our site.

Know Everything About Information Security

Information Security means to give protection to the confidential materials of any organization and to restrict the availability of all information, be it the electronic, print or other types.

Everyone will agree to the fact that information assets are critical to any business and paramount to the survival of any organization in today's global market. As there has been a rise in the cyber crimes, such as hacking, data thefts, data losses and virus attacks in the networking and software related jobs, the need of information security is growing by leaps and bounds.

Components of Information Security

Typically information security comprises of five components, such as:

1. Confidentiality

Information security ensures that information is shared only among authorized persons, within or outside the organization. Breaches of confidentiality happen due to improper handling of data through printing, copying, e-mailing or creating documents, etc.

2. Integrity

With proper information security, there is also the assurance of the information being authentic and complete. The term 'integrity' is regarded as the indicators of information security or lack of it. The integrity of data is not just restricted towards the correctness of data but it also verifies whether the data can be trusted and relied upon.

3. Availability

In information security, the person in charge of it makes sure that the systems can be accessed by authorized people whenever needed. It helps in delivering, storing and processing data in a responsible manner.

4. Accountability

Since there are different departments in an organization, confidential information needs to be protected and secured with utmost care. Most organizations build a culture of confidence in their employees, and all employees, particularly in senior and responsible positions understand that internal information and data is not to be shared or divulged to unauthorized persons. Some organizations also have specific departments where the people are entrusted with the responsibility of protecting the assets and confidential data .

5. Audit-ability

This component of information security has got two parts. Firstly, any system must be able to backtrack as that one can determine the positioning of the system during any emergency. Secondly, with auditing it becomes sure that the systems have all the necessary documented requirements.

Role of Information Security in Indian IT market

Over the past few decades, the information technology industry has placed India amongst the fastest growing IT exporters IT-Enabled Services (ITES) providers in the world.

According to a survey conducted by the National Association of Software and Services Company (NASSCOM), the Indian IT software and services sector showed a growth of 31.4 percent during 2005-06, and by 2010, it is believed that the IT and ITES sector will touch US$ 60 billion in exports. Looking at the phenomenal growth in IT jobs, the need of information security and network security experts is growing everyday in India.

According to market estimates, the IT Security market is worth $100 billion today and India itself is facing a shortage of over 1,88,000 security professionals. Recognizing the growing need for information security management, reputed IT training institutions are providing regular and distance learning courses in information security training and network security training

Mandira Kumar is working in a reputed IT firm in India. She is also an amateur writer and his write-ups mainly focus on the importance of information security training and network security training.

Trojan Vundo Virus Warning

Trojan Vundo is a trojan that allows unwanted advertisements to be displayed on your computer. There are a few ways you can get infected with this, either by email attachment, downloading of this file that was disguised as something else you were looking for...then clicking on the program which is a .exe file. Basically, Trojan. Vundo is a component of an adware program that downloads and displays pop-up advertisements. It is known to be installed by visiting a Web site link contained in a spammed email.

The systems that are affected are Windows 2000, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows XP.

Symptons of Trojan Vundo can be seen when you turn on Internet Explorer and begin surfing the web. You'll notice that if you have tab browsing feature installed, pop up advertisements will begin opening up new tab browsers automatically.

This program may also download potentially malicious files on to the compromised computer, such as keyloggers that record down your passwords, credit card numbers etc, which will then invite a whole new set of other problems other then adware issues.

Once Trojan Vundo is installed on your computer, you may experience warning messages from Norton or AVG telling you that this trojan is present but unable to be deleted. Doing a scan and reboot also does not help. The best way to remove trojan vundo is to use a focused trojan remover software because there are many variants to this program which allows it to be removed only by an updated database of trojan vundo signatures.

Get the best spyware & trojan remover to permanently protect your PC at http://www.spywaretrojanremover.com