Attack of the Zombie Computers Is a Growing Threat, Experts Say

Begin forwarded message:

From: Monty Solomon <[email protected]>
Date: January 6, 2007 5:56:54 PM EST
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Subject: Attack of the Zombie Computers Is a Growing Threat, Experts Say


Attack of the Zombie Computers Is a Growing Threat, Experts Say

By JOHN MARKOFF
The New York Times
January 7, 2007

In their persistent quest to breach the Internet's defenses, the bad
guys are honing their weapons and increasing their firepower.

With growing sophistication, they are taking advantage of programs
that secretly install themselves on thousands or even millions of
personal computers, band these computers together into an unwitting
army of zombies, and use the collective power of the dragooned
network to commit Internet crimes.

These systems, called botnets, are being blamed for the huge spike in
spam that bedeviled the Internet in recent months, as well as fraud
and data theft.

Security researchers have been concerned about botnets for some time
because they automate and amplify the effects of viruses and other
malicious programs.

What is new is the vastly escalating scale of the problem - and the
precision with which some of the programs can scan computers for
specific information, like corporate and personal data, to drain
money from online bank accounts and stock brokerages.

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/technology/07net.html




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