__/ [ Kurt Steinkopf ] on Wednesday 13 December 2006 13:13 \__
> On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 02:27:11 +0000, Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>
>> McAfee Reports on New Generation of Cybercriminals
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>> | Botnets: As predicted in last years report, botnets -- robot
>> | networks of illegally linked computers that can be controlled
>> | remotely -- are now the preferred method for Internet thieves to
>> | effectively execute attacks. At least 12 million computers around the
>> | world are now compromised and are used for phishing schemes, illegal
>> | spamming, spreading pornography and stealing passwords and
>> | identities. Open-source criminal collaboration is also generating
>> | more robust and reliable botnets with guaranteed ROI.
>> `----
> <snip />
>
> How is Pwned meaning?
"0wned" or "pwn3d" (and variation thereof)( are just a way of saying that the
computer is under full control of some cracker somewhere in the world. Put
simply, some gang in a remote island can control 1 million Windows PC's that
are spread all across the world . They use these to spew out E-mail SPAM 24
hours a day, for example. The advantage of this approach to spamming is that
different mail routers are used, which makes it hard to blacklist the source
of SPAM or isolate misbehaving PC's from the networks. This, among other
things, is why 90% of the E-mail today is SPAM. Other problems: password
theft, work-related data being traded/sold, extortion, etc.
Bottom line: a PC whose O/S enables it to be easily comprised and be control
by a third party is a ticking timebomb. 12 million of these (in theory could
get hundreds of millions, given enough manpower and bandwidth) are a menace
that puts the Internet in jeopardy and puts society that depends on
digitisation of information (e.g. credit card details, profiles) on the road
back to paper.
--
~~ Kind greetings and happy holidays!
Roy S. Schestowitz | Run a Linux server, sit on your hands all day
http://Schestowitz.com | Free as in Free Beer ¦ PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
Cpu(s): 21.0% user, 2.9% system, 1.0% nice, 75.1% idle
http://iuron.com - semantic engine to gather information
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