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Viruses and Hackers

Viruses and Hackers

Postby Mac33 » Thu Jan 30, 2003 5:15 pm

Viruses and Hackers


What are you protecting yourself from with your anti-virus software, and how likely is an attack?



Viruses have always been synonymous with computing. Even before the arrival of the internet there were lots of nasty bugs out there ready to cause havoc. However, their ability to bring about harm was somewhat limited as their only real means of infection was via a contaminated diskette passed from one computer to another.

With the advent of the internet, the virus problem has increased massively. We now have a situation where it's possible to spread a virus around the world in a matter of minutes, infecting tens of thousands of other PCs in the process. In recent times this has been demonstrated perfectly by the Melissa virus, which had devastating consequences on a global scale - it's estimated that it infected over a million computers after it was released in 1999.

Unfortunately, there'e another source of potential threats - the hacker. The internet gives a malicious user the means to hack into almost any system, from the humble PC to international corporate and government networks. Both of these threats are very real and it would be unwise to dimiss them out of hand as something that only happens to other people. This is why it's essential that you install firewall and anti-virus software as a precaution.

Microsoft is well aware of security risks posed by such threats. During software developement, each product is the subject of a 'security push' that examines any potential areas of vulnerability and secures them. Then, at various stages of the product lifecycle, the 'penetration team' is called in to provide the ultimate test.

Using the mindset and techniques of hackers and malicious users, they'll put the application through its paces. When this is done, the program will be put into Beta testing and made available to the public so even more checks can be made. As an example Visual Studio .Net had somewhere in the region of 3.5 million Beta testers, enabling Microsoft to make use of a vast amount of feedback before the final product release.

Viruses

More often than not, the term virus is used as a catch-all description when referring to any type of infection that might find its way onto your PC. Although it's possible to differentiate between types of infection, the most recent attacks, in the form of Klez and BugBear, are commonly known as 'blended threats'. These combine the characteristics of viruses, worms and Trojans to maximise their effect.

Furthermore, this new breed of virus no longer relies on human interaction. The days of double-clicking a file attachment in order to trigger infection are numbered. Now, simply reading an infected email is all that's required to launch a virus, such as Nimda, which will then propagate by sending copies of itself via email. The result of these techniques means that viruses can now spread much faster than in the past.

Worms

A worm doesn't infect other files. Instead, it repeatedly makes copies of itself in an attempt to drain system resources. In some cases the worm will then hijack the contents of your address book and attempt to send itself to all your contacts, causing even more havoc. Alternatively, it may try to copy itself between hard disks or find a way onto the PCs of other users on your network. The most infamous worms to date are Loveletter, which combined virus and Trojan elements, and the more recent Bugbear.

Trojans

Let your memory take you back to those history lessons at school and it will soon become clear why this particular type of infection is so called. Remember the Trojan War, with the Greeks standing at the gates of Troy with their 'gift' of a huge wooden horse? The real surprise came later when soldiers emerged from within and attacked the city.

Today's Trojan is a program that seems perfectly normal from the outside, but lurking within it is harmful code that can cause untold damage to your system. Even after this normal-looking program has been executed, the Trojan's activity might not be immediately apparent.

For example, the Trojan may scan your system for important personal information such as passwords or credit card details and then, without you realising, it will use your internet connection to relay this information back to its master.

Port Hackers

Every PC that's connected to the internet is allocated its own unique number, otherwise known as an IP Address. With a set of IP numbers to hand, the hacker will go about his business, looking for a suitably open door on one of these machines. Your connection to the internet is the combination of a number of ports, all sending and receiving data. A hacker will scan these ports and look for any potential weaknesses in an attempt to find a way into your system.

Social Engineering

A more lateral approach adopted by serious hackers, particularly in attacking large corporations, is to bypass all the firewalls and security software and con their way in by tricking the people using the network. Celebrity hacker Kevin Mitnick, recently released from prison after serving seven years for 25 separate hacking charges, has written a book detailing this approach, termed 'social engineering'. He claims it's very easy to simply phone up the target company and collect seemingly innocent information like employee numbers, which can then be used to orchestrate an attack.

Protection

For home users, protecting against viruses is extremely simple - install an up-to-date virus checker and be sensible in what you download. While advanced viruses or hacks can be extremely subtle in the way they infect your PC, the most virulent of them, such as the ILOVEU virus, are spread simply by people opening infected attachments on unsolicited email. Such viruses are comparitively easy to produce, and they're even easier to avoid - if an email looks suspicious, just leave it alone.


Today's Trojan is a program that seems perfectly normal, but lurking within is harmful code.


Source: Official Windows XP Magazine.


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