bekisman
09-Dec-10, 12:00
I see that wikileaks 'supporters' are using thousands of other peoples computers - which the owners (seemingly) have no inkling of - to bombard certain websites and bring them down.
I am just a typical computer user, just a basic idea of how to work one.
These collection of computers, called 'Zombies' can be made to work together and it's called a 'botnet'..
Now, how does this happen? I don't really understand, no doubt a hacker could get into my machine, but I do take basic precautions as detailed below..
I just wonder what idiot would not have an anti-virus protection and a firewall.. it seems some people allow this to happen, but in the vast majority of cases, is this down to people who just can't be bothered to install these two simple things? or are not savy enough..
I would have thought, that noticing their PC going slower, or their router constantly on 'might' give them a clue?
I know on the Org there are IT people; any suggestions or advice? :confused
Is My PC A Zombie?
"If your PC has Trojan software installed you may notice that it runs a lot slower than usual, the internet connection is slower than normal and the machine behaves erratically. If the machine is used to send spam or perform denial of service attacks you may notice a lot of unusual internet activity. If you have an external modem or broadband router, you may notice that the data light is constantly on for long periods of time, even when you are not using the internet. If a desktop firewall is installed, you may receive notification messages that programs are trying to access the internet.
You can protect your computer from becoming a zombie machine by using anti-virus and firewall software, and making sure they are kept up-to-date. As new viruses are discovered on a daily basis, out-of-date virus software may well be ineffective and will not catch newer viruses or new variants of older viruses. Any PC that is connected to the internet via a broadband or an ‘always on’ internet connection is particularly at risk of becoming infected; as the PC is connected to the internet permanently there is a greater chance of it being found by a hacker, scanned for vulnerabilities, and then hacked."
I am just a typical computer user, just a basic idea of how to work one.
These collection of computers, called 'Zombies' can be made to work together and it's called a 'botnet'..
Now, how does this happen? I don't really understand, no doubt a hacker could get into my machine, but I do take basic precautions as detailed below..
I just wonder what idiot would not have an anti-virus protection and a firewall.. it seems some people allow this to happen, but in the vast majority of cases, is this down to people who just can't be bothered to install these two simple things? or are not savy enough..
I would have thought, that noticing their PC going slower, or their router constantly on 'might' give them a clue?
I know on the Org there are IT people; any suggestions or advice? :confused
Is My PC A Zombie?
"If your PC has Trojan software installed you may notice that it runs a lot slower than usual, the internet connection is slower than normal and the machine behaves erratically. If the machine is used to send spam or perform denial of service attacks you may notice a lot of unusual internet activity. If you have an external modem or broadband router, you may notice that the data light is constantly on for long periods of time, even when you are not using the internet. If a desktop firewall is installed, you may receive notification messages that programs are trying to access the internet.
You can protect your computer from becoming a zombie machine by using anti-virus and firewall software, and making sure they are kept up-to-date. As new viruses are discovered on a daily basis, out-of-date virus software may well be ineffective and will not catch newer viruses or new variants of older viruses. Any PC that is connected to the internet via a broadband or an ‘always on’ internet connection is particularly at risk of becoming infected; as the PC is connected to the internet permanently there is a greater chance of it being found by a hacker, scanned for vulnerabilities, and then hacked."