Security news29 October 2009
International Kill-A-Zombie Day will be a thriller for Halloween, says Sophos Computer users urged to clean-up their computers and ensure they aren't adding to the spam menace
IT security and data protection company, Sophos
Whilst we are not quite living in the zombie film 28 Days Later, Sophos is seeing the world coming under attack from zombies of the techie variety. Millions of computers around the world, in homes and business premises, are - without the knowledge of their owners - under the control of cybercriminals who commandeer the PCs to send spam, distribute malware, and commit identity theft.
Billions of spam messages are sent every day, with over 99% determined to be relayed from innocent users' computers that have been hijacked and turned into a "zombie". Hackers control networks of zombie computers, known as a botnet, in order to silently send out adverts that peddle sexual enhancement drugs or questionable financial deals, distribute scareware attacks to trick users out of their credit card details, access your social networking accounts, and spread further malicious attacks.
"If your computer has been turned into a zombie then a hacker has complete control of your PC. That means they can read everything you type, see every website you visit, as well as spam out adverts through your internet connection without your knowledge," explained Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "Next time you receive spam in your inbox remind yourself this - that an advert for Viagra could have been sent from a little old lady's computer in Skegness, and she doesn't know anything about it. It's all too easy to be part of the spam and malware problem, but it's time for people to take a stand."
"The answer is to keep your computer's security up-to-date with anti-virus software, security patches and firewalls. We need more people around the world to wake up to this truly global problem," continued Cluley. "With nights getting longer and colder, many people will be at home this weekend and Halloween would be the perfect opportunity to scare hackers off your computer by scanning it for threats."
Sophos recommends companies automatically update their corporate virus protection, and run a consolidated solution at their email and web gateways to defend against viruses and spam.
To illustrate the global zombie problem, Sophos has produced a chart of the top 12 spam-relaying countries. This "dirty dozen" list shows which nations are contributing most to the spam problem by having zombie computers silently sending spam around the world:
| The top spam-relaying countries in July-September 2009 were: | |
| US | 13.3% |
| Brazil | 12. 1% |
| India | 5.6% |
| S Korea | 5.5% |
| Vietnam | 4.7% |
| China | 4.0% |
| Poland | 3.9% |
| Turkey | 3.3% |
| Russia | 2.8% |
| Spain | 2.7 |
| Italy | 2.3% |
| Argentina | 2.1% |
| Other | 37.7% |
| Top spam-relaying continents (July-September 2009): | |
| Asia | 35.6% |
| Europe | 24.8% |
| S America | 19.6% |
| N America | 16.5% |
| Africa | 2.2% |
| Oceania | 0.7% |
| Unclassified | 0.6% |
So, what can you do to help?
- Scan your computer and those of your friends (ask permission first!) with an up-to-date anti-virus program. If you don't already have an anti-virus you can always download a free trial edition from Sophos.
- Keep your operating system and programs up-to-date with the latest security patches, and run a firewall.
- Join the "International Kill A Zombie Day" group on Facebook and spread the word.
- Tweet on Twitter: "I'm joining the fight! International Kill-A-Zombie Day"
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About Sophos
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.
