Zombies try to blend in with the crowd
,----[ Quote ]
| Hijacked computers have become one of the most
| serious security problems on the Internet. Malicious
| remote-control code turns a computer into a zombie
| via security holes in software, a worm, or a Trojan
| horse. It then runs silently in the background,
| letting an attacker send commands to the system,
| unbeknownst to its owner.
|
| Zombies are the most prevalent threat to Windows PCs,
| according to a Microsoft report released earlier thisy
| ear. A security tool downloaded alongside Microsoft's
| patches removed at least one version of malicious
| remote-control software from about 3.5 million PCsb
| etween January 2005 and March 2006, it said.
|
| Criminals make money by networking their zombies
| into a "botnet". They put these networks to work
| mounting denial-of-service attacks against online
| businesses in extortion schemes; hosting faked Web
| sites used in phishing scams; and relaying spam.
| Attackers also often load adware and spyware onto
| compromised systems, earning a kickback from them
| akers of these programs or reselling the private
| data of their victims.
`----
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6127304.html
Zombies are one of the hardest proofs one can use to argue
that Windows PC's are a menace on any network. There
should be a law that restricts the use of 'unsafe' operating
system, or else access to the Web should be denied.
Also see:
Zombie PCs spew out 80% of spam
,----[ Quote ]
| Four-fifths of spam now emanates from computers
| contaminated with Trojan horse infections,
| according to a study by network management
| firm Sandvine out this week. Trojans and worms
| with backdoor components such as Migmaf and
| SoBig have turned infected Windows PCs into
| drones in vast networks of compromised zombie PCs.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/04/trojan_spam_study/
Homeland Security: Fix your Windows
,----[ Quote ]
| In a rare alert, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
| has urged Windows users to plug a potential worm hole in
| the Microsoft operating system.
|
| [...]
|
| "Users are encouraged to avoid delay in applying this
| security patch," the Department of Homeland Security
| said in the statement. The patch fixes a serious flaw
| that, if exploited, could enable an attacker to remotely
| take complete control of an affected system, the agency
| said.
`----
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6103805.html
Perspective: Microsoft security--no more second chances?
,----[ Excerpt ]
| CNET News.com's Charles Cooper says the software maker is
| running out of excuses for a history of poor security.
`----
http://news.com.com/2010-1002_3-6104512.html?part=rss&tag=6104512&subj=news
Trend Micro launches anti-botnet service
,----[ Quote ]
| Trend Micro announced a new service to help
| large organizations and Internet service providers
| (ISPs) fight networks of zombie machines, known as
| "botnets."
`----
http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20060925/tc_infoworld/82210
Trapping hackers in the honeypot
,----[ Quote ]
| Cleaning up the PC proved impossible. It was lucky we
| could just revert to an earlier configuration. If the
| honeypot had been a home PC almost everything stored
| on it, pictures, e-mails, might have been lost.
`----
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6035455.stm
|
|
