Posted on 05/07/2009 11:59:29 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Twelve million computers have been brought into botnets since January, according to a new report — and 18% of all zombie machines are in the US.
A new report from security company McAfee says that since January an estimated 12 million computers have been infected with malware and turned into zombies, making them part of botnets, and that these zombie numbers have increased by 50% since last year.
At 18%, the US hosts the largest number of infected machines, followed by China with 13%.
Jeff Green, senior vice-president of McAfee, said:
“The massive expansion of these botnets provides cyber-criminals with the infrastructure they need to flood the web with malware."
"Essentially, this is cyber-crime enablement."
Meanwhile, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (DTT) is saying in a new paper that the cyberthreats grow ever stronger, and urgent action is needed.
Greg Pellegrino, who is a global public sector industry leader at DTT, told the BBC:
"This issue is moving so quickly, and with so much at stake economically and in terms of safety and security for people, we don't have 100 years to figure this out."
"We are seeing this change from protecting the internet to a conversation about how we succeed and prosper in cyberspace."
"Security spending is growing at a rate never seen before while the threat environment is growing at a pace of 40% a year.”
"In terms of volume and severity of incidents, the math doesn't work and we have to come up with a different approach that requires public and private sectors working together."
All this comes as President Obama is preparing to release a review into cybersecurity, which his administration has made a priority.
I am with you- I once inserted a floppy disk that I had not used for about 5 or 10 years- I wanted to see what was on it before I threw it away- and my anti-virus popped up saying it was infected with some NEW virus and needed their lates software for which i had to renew my subscription...
I downloaded a free copy of Avast...and never got that message and never used that software again
“I always wondered - I’ve had this nagging feeling for years that cyber security software companies secretly fund some hackers and virus creators in order to increase business and broaden revenue streams. It’s just a feeling.”
They don’t need to. There are plenty of hackers around who get their ego-gratification by doing this kind of stuff. If you ever get into a talk on a message board with one, they’ll brag to high-heaven about what a great thing they have accomplished. Writing something that infects/damages other people’s comuters.
They really don’t get it.
My response is it takes a lot of skill and ability to build a house. It only takes some gas and a match to destroy it (which just about any idiot can master.)
The truth is most malware/virus programs are not that complicated. You find a security hole and you expolit it.
Building a full system or program is much more complicated. Truth is it is beyond the ability of most malware/virus writers. That’s why they are writing virus’ instead of creating systems.
Backup data ONLY. No applications.
Then
Repartition, reformat, reinstall.
"I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit - it's the only way to be sure" - Ripley
Then you need to get your son back out there, let him show you what he did, and write down the Username and Password. If your router is locked down, you should be relatively safe as long as you don't surf the "dangerous sites", and you have adequate virus scanning software.
Oh, I have it written down and taped in a safe place. How dumb do I look?! Wait...don’t answer that!
When a Dem gets in trouble the media conveniently forgets to mention the party affiliation in the report. The tech media usually forgets to add “Microsoft” to malware stories.
No painless way, eh?
Thnak you for the advice.
Forgot about Avast. Is it still free for a trial period? Thnak you for the reminder, part of the problem is finding things that you can try before you buy.
Thank you, sounds like a game plan. I’ll get busy this weekend.
It’s completely free and fully functional, if you download the personal edition.
You need to register it, with your email, and an activation code will be provided for free.
I am currently using Avast. Norton / AVG / McAfee were all useless at detecting the nasties that used to affect my computer.
Gad, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve worked on a home computer that is running slow....only to find out they’ve installed Limewire.
I usually tell them the fastest and best way to fix it is get out the recovery CD, format and reload.
I then tell them not to allow their kids to install Limewire.
Yeah, I know, I can scan and remove, however, from a cost standpoint, running the recovery CD is quicker, and I tend not to get a call back telling me they’re having problems again. At least, not until the kids install Limewire again.
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