FBI tries to fight zombie hordes

bbc ^ | 14 June 2007 | bbc

[indcons]

The FBI is contacting more than one million PC owners who have had their computers hijacked by cyber criminals.

The initiative is part of an ongoing project to thwart the use of hijacked home computers, or zombies, as launch platforms for hi-tech crimes.

The FBI has found networks of zombie computers being used to spread spam, steal IDs and attack websites.

The agency said the zombies or bots were "a growing threat to national security".

Signs of trouble

The FBI has been trying to tackle networks of zombies for some time as part of an initiative it has dubbed Operation Bot Roast.

This operation recently passed a significant milestone as it racked up more than one million individually identifiable computers known to be part of one bot net or another.

[D-fendr]

Rule #1 for granny and granpa and mom and kiddies:

If you don’t absolutely have to, don’t use a Windows computer.

[DB]

Thank you Bill Gates...

[DB]

I use Windows computers, have since it all started. DOS before that...

While there’s numerous security problems it is possible to use Windows without being a blight on mankind...

I’ve never had my computer hijacked and the only virus I’ve gotten to date was when a friend connected his infected laptop to my network. The damages there were limited to one machine.

I’m sure that if I weren’t a long time heavy computer user things could have gone really wrong... But it is possible to stay clean...

[Lord_Baltar]

I was expecting a “Made ya Look”

Well, I thought I had seen every possible headline around here...

[Killborn]

Imagine my disappointment when I realized that the Feds aren’t going to battle a horde of brain eating undead ghouls.

[coydog]

No, they just work for ghouls if you count Congress.

[GATOR NAVY]

How are they trying to tell people?

If I saw an e-mail from the “FBI”, it would go in the trash with all the other unopened e-mail from anyone I don’t know.

On the other hand, I guess people who have let their machines become bots probably open everything.

[keepitreal]

FBI tries to fight zombie hordes

Hmmm... I didn’t know the Senate had finally unleashed the FBI on all us citizens who are bugging them about the Immigration Bill.

[jwh_Denver]

I don’t have a Windows computer, I had my computer custom built.

[Killborn]

True. Ghouls like Nazi Piglousy who thrive on the murder of babies and advocate canbalism of the unborn in the remote chance that it might cure what ails us.

[familyop]

"The initiative is part of an ongoing project to thwart the use of hijacked home computers, or zombies,..."

A zombie is a defunct process that has completed execution but still has an entry in the process table. More terminology from UNIX systems development terminology is being "hijacked" by Windows users and redefined, as the word, "hacker" (one who modifies preexisting code) was.

[familyop]

More UNIX systems development terminology, even... :-)

[Cementjungle]

Thank you Bill Gates...

Nothing's hack-proof. Windows is most widely used therefore it's the one hackers target. Had Apple been the one to be on top it would be in the same spot.

[DB]

Sorry, can’t agree with that.

While nothing is 100% secure, earlier Windows machines had holes so big you could drive a Mac truck through them.

Windows 98 and to a lesser degree Win2k machines had many critical ports sitting on the Internet side open BY DEFAULT... Some were very difficult to close. And even then with the port closed it was a big red flag on the Internet that there was a machine at that IP address which made it a target.

And that’s not including early Internet Explorer and OutLook Express problems. Where early on security was simply not considered at all - literally.

That’s not true of most other OS.

Before Vista something could install itself without your knowledge. Play what you think is an audio CD and get a nasty rootkit (or anything else) installed on you machine that may not be even possible to remove...

Again, security not considered with the autorun “feature”.

Other OS’s managed to avoid this problem.

Hacker code can be hidden in countless locations on a Windows machine. Trying to find it can be very difficult. Again, other OS’s don’t allow things to be buried all over.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Windows was built promiscuous by design. The vision was that of an ultra friendly machine which would do what you wanted it to do with all the data all the time. If everybody played nice, that would be an ideal operating system, just like it would be ideal not to have to worry about locking your doors or needing keys to start your car.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Yeah, like these...

[Killborn]

Yep. At least zombies just eat brains. These zombies devour our COnstitution, freedom, babies, and everything good and decent.

[Cementjungle]

Windows was built promiscuous by design. The vision was that of an ultra friendly machine which would do what you wanted it to do with all the data all the time. If everybody played nice, that would be an ideal operating system, just like it would be ideal not to have to worry about locking your doors or needing keys to start your car.

Unix (and its varients) was much the same, even worse. In the early 90's I was responsible for all administrative and student (Unix-based) systems at a university in Philadelphia, and can tell you that security was a huge issue all the time because of this.

[TChris]

Rule #1 for granny and granpa and mom and kiddies:

If you don’t absolutely have to, don’t use a Windows computer.

Actually, Windows is just fine if you learn a few, basic rules:

1. While GUIs like Windows have made them much easier to use, personal computers are complicated. They have to be.
2. Personal computers will never be as easy to use as a television or a microwave oven. That's because personal computers are designed to do much more than one thing.
3. To use your computer effectively, you must learn how. You'll never "just figure it out" without some instruction along the way. Put the time, money and effort into learning, and you'll have a much better experience.
4. If having a computer at all matters to you, then learning to use your computer effectively matters.
5. If your computer is connected to the Internet, then security is Very Important, and not just for your sake.
6. Every Internet-connected personal computer must have, as basic security precautions, 1) a good, working Anti-Virus program with up-to-date virus signatures (AVG is a good, free program), 2) a good, working Anti-Spyware/Adware program with up-to-date spyware signatures (Microsoft's Windows Defender is a good, free program if you use Windows XP)and 3) a good, working firewall. (The firewall included in Windows XP, with Service Pack 2, is good enough for the majority of users.)
7. Develop some "street smarts" before using e-mail and the Internet. Healthy skepticism and a better understanding of con-job tactics will keep you from being scammed quite so often.
8. Learning to use your computer properly should include basic maintenance steps, such as defragmenting your hard drive, cleaning out temporary files and making backups of your important data.
9. Because a hard drive is a mechanical device, it will fail, eventually. Back up anything you care about.
10. Don't let your children use the Internet unsupervised, especially not on their own computer, in their room. It's a Very Bad Idea.