Nightmare named virus

Already far away, the time when the authors of the virus have shattered millions of computers are just teenage hackers " young horses ", want to prove the male character. Now look back, but it is still a " good past " anyway.

Do you think this conclusion seems paradoxical and weird? In fact, the current security situation compared to that day was really " a heavenly one ". Today's attacks were narrower, but the attack hit the target - piercing even the most reinforced operating systems.

Instead of the old " rocky horses ", writing a certain virus program just to make the world famous, now, the attacks are mostly funded by criminal gangs. Their purpose is clear: stealing information (both corporate data and personal accounts) for use in sophisticated fraudulent cases.

So it is not surprising, when the software designed to secure the system itself turns into a target of hackers. In addition to the wave of attacks aimed at the Windows operating system, another trend is intensifying to attack many installed applications.

From database software, antivirus software, data backup software or even music software - all the gaps of these programs are thoroughly exploited. Information of corporations and even countries is placed at risk of intrusion. " The attacks are all about information theft, " Symantec's product manager said.

New risk

It's dangerous when the majority of users are subjective that they are safe because they always install the latest security patch. You must always ensure that in addition to the operating system, other applications installed in the device are always up to date.

Fortunately, more and more programs, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader and Mozilla Firefox, are equipped with an automatic update system (Please note that both AAR and Firefox have been hacked in 2005). And because these applications run on different types of systems, users of Mac OS X or Linux operating systems cannot lull themselves to sleep that no hacker craves.

Looking back at SANS 'Top 20 most serious security vulnerability report, we will see up to 9 cases designed to attack many different operating platforms. Filesharing programs like eDonkey, Kazaa and BitTorrent are the most bombarded targets. The main problem is that all files distributed through these P2P networks can be viral infectious agents without users knowing.

Crime of media

From Windows Media Player, RealPlayer to iTunes and Sony BMG's CD, most popular music players have security holes, allowing attackers to automatically install malicious programs such as keyboard monitoring. , stealing passwords and other account information. Therefore, it is concluded that illegal downloading is illegal and there is a high risk of being sued. Security risk is another compelling reason for you to consider staying away from file sharing programs.

Another trend is also worrying that hackers are increasingly bombarding web servers more. In the worst case scenario, they can create fake sites, or even snatch control of the real site - to carry out attacks aimed at everyone who visits the file, through the vulnerabilities included. Browser. (Many websites that use PHP scripting language have been placed in the sights this year).

A few tranquilizers

It seems that the nightmare of this virus also causes you constant headaches and insomnia. While waiting for an effective remedy, comfort yourself with some tranquilizers.

One experience is that all vendors of computer hardware and software must follow Microsoft and Apple in providing security and updating mechanisms for the system automatically. Criminals attack loopholes with faster speeds and, of course, we can never say, "Hey, wait for me to install the security system" with them.

It can be said that the security thinking of both consumers and technology firms has been outdated . 6 years. Six years ago, attackers targeted only the operating system - it was not automatically updated by an operating system business. Now, attackers turn to peek at popular applications - and of course, all of these apps are not automatically updated.

Software enterprises are struggling to build a mechanism that allows automatic application updates, while users should know themselves by installing security by hand first.

Thien Y