Posted on 03/01/2005 3:11:14 PM PST by Graybeard58
Anyone wishing to contact Theresa Lipa can send her a letter or make a phone call. Forget e-mail.
Since her computer began spewing pornography in November, the machine sits unplugged in her Des Plaines, Ill., home.
"It was terrible,'' said Lipa, a 69-year-old grandmother. She tried everything she could think of to make it stop, "but it just kept coming. So I finally just unplugged it.''
Then she got a $75 bill for "entertainment'' from the pornographer.
Like millions of casual computer users, Lipa has learned that the Internet has become a dangerous place. Worms, viruses, spyware, spam and an unending string of fraudulent traps lie in wait. One false click, or the failure to install and update security software, can lead to identity theft, bogus bills and crashed computers.
People who want only to check e-mail or buy an airline ticket from their home computer now find they spend more time dodging malevolent software than they ever intended to spend online. Fending off the onslaught poses technical challenges for all but the savviest computer geeks.
"Put a firewall on. Patch this, download that. These are foreign terms to most people,'' said Joe Stewart, a senior security researcher with LURHQ Corp., a Lombard, Ill.-based computer security firm. "The fixes may be beyond the skill levels of most consumers."
Lipa's decision to unplug her computer may be extreme, but it's understandable. There's growing frustration with a medium that at least some users say has become more trouble than it is worth, according to people in the computer industry.
"There's no question a backlash is coming," said Peter Firstbrook, a communications analyst with MetaGroup. "The Internet is getting as dirty as the real world.''
The problem appears to be getting worse. Computer viruses, once the playthings of bored young nerds seeking to impress one another, are now big business for criminals across the globe who automate software attacks to steal credit card numbers and send spam for profit.
In September 2003, computer security firm MessageLabs counted 279 "phishing'' e-mails for the month. Phishing refers to a type of scam that tricks consumers into disclosing financial information, such as a bank account number.
By June 2004, the monthly total was more than 264,000. By November, the phishing messages averaged more than 100,000 a day.
Analysts estimate junk e-mail may cost Internet services as much as $500 million in network capacity this year.
Giant companies from Microsoft and America Online to AT&T and Yahoo seek to stop the rising tide of malevolent software online, but security experts say consumers should brace themselves for at least another year of trouble.
"Operating system vendors have lost sight of what customers want to do with their computers-e-mail, surf the Web, keep a Christmas list-and have loaded up the operating systems with whiz-bang features most people don't need,'' said Kevin Kealy, security scientist at AT&T Labs.
"Inevitably, your computer gets infected and crashes,'' Kealy said. "You take it into the shop where some kid with a nose ring and ponytail tells you it's your fault and charges you a couple hundred bucks to fix it."
The firewalls and antivirus programs required to safeguard computers need regular updates to keep abreast of new viruses, but even consumers who try to keep their protections current can be victimized.
"Even with a broadband connection, you cannot download the patches and fixes fast enough so that your computer won't be infected,'' Stewart said.
While Microsoft's newest operating systems have improved their built-in virus protection, millions of consumers still use older versions of Windows that are extremely vulnerable.
Operators of networks and e-mail services are working to identify and purge malevolent software before it reaches consumers.
AT&T believes it can identify and remove worms and viruses from its network, Kealy said. The carrier offers security protection to its large commercial customers and is testing a system it hopes will remove about 80 percent of bad traffic from its network.
That system may be activated by summer, Kealy said. Because an estimated 30 percent of network traffic now consists of viruses, worms and the like, purging them makes for more efficient operations, he said.
"We want to lead by example," Kealy said. "We believe other network operators will also want to improve their efficiencies."
AOL and Yahoo have spam filters and other software intended to prevent infections from reaching their customers.
Internet services acknowledge that fighting spam and other Web pests is a long process.
"Spammers are very sophisticated with ways to fake their identity," said Karen Mahon, a Yahoo spokeswoman.
Identifying spammers requires cooperation among all the operators whose customers originate e-mail, she said.
And customers need to be wary.
LaRue Highsmith received two e-mails that appeared to be from Yahoo, which SBC Communications Inc. delivers with its high-speed Internet connection to his Glenview home.
The e-mails said he must re-enter his account information or his service would cease.
"I called SBC and they said it was a hoax and that I should just delete it,'' Highsmith said. "I wonder how many customers are being fooled into providing their credit card information?"
Rising online fraud may make consumers more suspicious of the Internet and reluctant to undertake electronic transactions, said Ragu Gurumurthy, vice president with Boston consultancy Adventis.
"It's a very confusing path ahead for consumers,'' he said. "It could have a significant impact on e-commerce transactions in the year ahead."
Adding to the problems, consumers are being pushed toward making more transactions online, said Edward Tenner, author of "Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences."
"Today you'll pay a premium to buy an airline ticket if you don't use a computer,'' he said. "Consumers face all this maintenance to keep their home computers from being infected. Some experts say you should use two antivirus programs and two spyware programs. That just multiplies the likelihood they'll conflict with each other and crash your computer."
Using a computer these days is "like going to a Disneyland where you know you'll get mugged," said Tom DeFanti, a computer scientist at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
DeFanti said he spends a few hours each week cleaning out the infections that have accumulated in his home computer.
"It's no fun. It's like doing your income tax,'' he said. "The industry must fix this or people will bail on this technology.''
In many cases, customers actually agree to download software that causes advertisements to pop up later. Permission is usually buried in the fine print associated with downloading something else, such as a free screen saver.
"If you do much online shopping, it's unlikely you'll get through the whole process without agreeing to something,'' said Brian McCarthy, chief operating officer of Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.-based CompTIA, an information technology trade association. "You'd have to study every line on the Web site to see just what all you've agreed to.''
While it may be difficult, someone like Theresa Lipa can just unplug the modem and use the computer only to play solitaire.
As it stands, Lipa has no intention of paying the $75 bill for unwanted pornography, despite threats of escalating late fees, and damage to her credit record. She has reported the incident to the Illinois attorney general and the Des Plaines police.
More reports from other bruised Web surfers could be in the offing.
Convergence of computer technology with Internet-based phones and video means the security headache now plaguing the Web could soon spread to telephones and television, said Bill Hancock, security officer for Savvis Communications, a St. Louis-based information technology company.
"On the Internet right now you can get mugged on any street corner,'' said Hancock, "and it will get worse. Soon cell phones will operate with IP addresses. We will go from 850 million PCs on the Internet to another 2 billion cell phones.
"All the viruses and worms and so forth will then attack the phones,'' he said. "I expect chaos.''
The sky is falling!
Sounds like she was infected with one of those porn dialers that calls to some number in Africa. Wait until she gets the phone bill, she'll want to live like Lincoln in the "Land Of Lincoln".
Yeah, it's not worth it. I don't think this internet thing will catch on. It'll probably be obsolete in a couple of years.
you know what, I work with morons that click on every little pop up that comes to them, and then they wonder why they get spam emails.
It isn't the internet's fault, its the users and the abusers of it.
Sounds like the problem is a loose nut behind the keyboard. I wonder how many Citibank emails she's responded to.
I hate it when I get misdirected to different web sites. Every time on FR, when I click to read Ms. Dowd's latest wisdom, all I get are pictures of Catherine Zeta-Jones. What's up with that?
Good grief! Use whatever system you want, but get granny a Mac.
I just don't get it. I use Windows XP, IE 6.0, and just don't have these problems. Of course I also don't visit porn sites and don't click yes on popups; I'm not stupid enough to fall for phishing scams and I don't answer spam. But still, even though I run SpyBot and Ad-Aware weekly, they don't actually ever find anything.
Why is this so complicated, apparently, for so many people? It's just not that hard.
And poor Granny in this story never opened one attachment the origin of which she was unaware . . . never used Internet Explorer . . . had her firewall in place at all times . . . updated her virus definitions daily . . . of course she did.
All users do everything they possibly can to keep their PCs safe.
How do I know?
Because they tell me they do.
Okay, now I've read the entire article and feel qualified to comment.
EVERYONE quoted in the article a) is stupid or b) makes money off fixing stupid people's computers.
Every single mother's child of 'em.
The best thing for Grannies is to get them a mac. Keeps em' out of trouble without a lot of maintenance.
The problem is non-geeks, like grannies, don't know about that stuff, they use what's on the computer and don't configure anything that's not obvious. Computers are being marketed these days as an appliance, they're not supposed to be much more complicated than a top of the line microwave, you don't need to install a bunch of extra stuff to make your microwave safe.
Now there are good solutions to this within the business, like making firewalls and virus scanners part of default installs, but they're still going to run into problems with the average user just not being technically capable enough to run these things. In the end I think the backbone structure of the internet is going to have to find a way to start clamping down on these things, not sure how that's doable but they're going to need to find a way.
My 84 year old mother has had a computer for about 5 years. She keeps up with friends and family with email and she also navigates the net. If it weren't for her adult children who live nearby, she might have a problem. My sisters and their husbands keep it clean for her and up date virus protection, spy ware etc.
Like owning a car, if you don't know how to work on it yourself you'd better have someone you trust do it for you.
I am willing to be that Lipa actually clicked on a couple of those "please remove me from your list" links embedded in the spam mails. My wife, reasonably with it and a computer user for years, almost fell for that one. That one move opens the door to all sorts of problems.
One thing I find frustrating in the Net Industry is people don't want to read.
You can't do business in the virtual world without understanding how the Net works.
nah ive been back for almost 2 months now.....
I know they are, but it isnt just the old ladies they are looking for...they are looking for the computer illiterate first....
Agreed. Some people just do not deserve to own technology.
"Put the computer back in the box it came in and return it to where you bought it. You are too stupid to own one."
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