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ICANEWS
Mayo 2004, Año 1 # 3 |
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Viruses, worms and other bugs
Basics of Internet Security |
| by Hernan Casanova
hc@interdevelopers.com |
You wake up in the middle
of the night, sweating, even with these sub-zero
temperatures. You had a nightmare. The 150
pages of your schoolwork have been erased and replaced by
a big screen saying! GOTCHAAAAAA! Scary eh?
just a nightmare, but possible. Don't let this happen to you.
Every time you connect to the Internet you open your door
to millions of other computers, and the good and bad people
behind them, around the world. Besides the good ones, which
are most of them, in the real world there are bad guys that
might try to do something to or get something out of your
computer, but Who?, How?, Why?. Let's have a look. We can
divide these fellows into two types: A) They want something
from you B) They just want do some harm for some reason.
In the first group we can put those that through some trick
try to get something that can be of use to them. This could
be information from your computer or system, maybe credit
card numbers, banking information, passwords, read your e-mails
or use of your system to send Spam mails. These guys are regular
crooks with cyber weapons
instead of guns, looking for some material benefit.
The second group has other objectives, they just want to cause
some damage to your system. This can be done
either through programs that reach your computer via e-mail
attachments disguised as friendly messages, infected disks
or software or by the intrusion of a hacker, attacker or cracker,
through weaknesses or "holes" in
your system, taking control and using or destroying them as
they please.
These programs are the so called "viruses", "worms",
"trojan horses" and other funny names you hear so
much about, most common are the files with suffixes such as
.scr, .pif and others. The latest virus circulating,
which you probably received as I did more than 10 times this
month, is the messa.scr, which can make your computer start
and restart for a while, and was created by a student in Germany
just for fun. The damage they cause can vary from just making
some fun to you to completely erasing all
you data, not to mention spreading these bugs to all the friends,
customers etc. that have the misfortune of
being in your address book.
Motivations can vary from politics, resentment, bragging
rights among hackers, or just pure boredom.
In Argentina, oh surprise! it's not a crime to do this, as
there is no legislation punishing cyber intruders. In some
countries it is considered a felony. Are
you already scared? . Don't be, knowledge and understanding
are your best weapons. There is a lot you can do to be protected
against these bad apples of the Web.
Here are some recommendations:
a) If you have a broadband connection (ADSL,Cable Modem etc.)
HAVE A FIREWALL. A firewall is a piece of software and/or
hardware that is usually placed between your system and the
Internet. Microsoft Windows XP has a build-in firewall you
can enable.
b) Update your Operating System regularly;
to at least have all known security issues fixed (check for
updates at least once a week). You can do it at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
c) Install Virus protection software - Norton or McAfee are
the leaders in the industry. Www.symantec.com - www.macafee.com
d) Set your Virus protection software to scan: your computer,
incoming emails, downloaded files, visited
web sites etc.
e) Update your virus protection software regularly (the best
advise is: update daily).
f) Do not download and execute unknown programs.
g) Do not open email attachments from unrecognized senders
or those with a doubtful topic, even better
to delete such emails immediately.
h) NEVER, BUT NEVER change your password to a given one or
type your password, credit card or personal information at
an unknown website as requested in spoofing emails, unless
you made votes of poverty. (I have received a few lately,
one from a fake Citibank).
i) The most important of all commandments
DO A BACKUP OF ALL IMPORTANT FILES, BACKUP, BACKUP and then
BACKUP !!!!!!!!!!.
Of course it is impossible to be 100 % protected, but if you
follow these practices you'll be in the safe side. In any
case consult your computer specialist.
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| Glossary |
worms:
gusanos
bugs: bichos
sweating: transpirando
nightmare: pesadilla
scary: aterrador
crooks: sinvergüenzas
weapons: armas
damage: daño
weaknesses: debilidades
latest: último
erasing: borrar
misfortune: mala suerte
bragging: ostentar, alardear
boredom: aburrimiento
felony: delito
bad apples: manzanas podridas
build in: incorporado
enable: poner en funcionamiento, operar
update: actualizar
incoming: nuevos, que entran
doubtful: dudoso
unless: a menos que
commandments: mandamientos
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