Suprablog HQ

Connecticut community college computer systems are at risk of becoming infected due to users performing non-work related activities. A newsletter was sent to all staff and faculty which loosely said: “Don’t do non-work related activities online or we will confiscate your computer!” I feel this was a little harsh, especially since I’ve not worked with the IT department in four years…but whatever. It’s true though.

Malware is any malicious software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system. Unlike years ago when malware was primarily created by “computer geeks” as pranks to demonstrate their mastery of the computer, today’s malware is increasingly the result of organized criminal activity aimed at collecting identification or financial data. Today, sophisticated “infections” record user keystrokes and transmit the data in the background to sites in other parts of the world.  And the activity is growing at a pace that anti-virus vendors can’t keep up with. In 2008, there were over 2 million new malware variants discovered – more than the total of all prior years combined.

Interesting statistic-Even at 100% productivity, security software can only protect a computer from 80% of threats. (according to a press release from The CCC) According to the US-CERT (United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team) anti-virus software is not the be-all end-all for computer security.

Because it relies on signatures, anti-virus software can only detect viruses that have signatures installed on your computer, so it is important to keep these signatures up to date. You will still be susceptible to viruses that circulate before the anti-virus vendors add their signatures, so continue to take other safety precautions as well.

Recently on the BBC, there was a news article about a man who used trojans to hijack people’s web-cams. Key hacking sites are known to disseminate malware, along with the vast majority of pornography sites. Email attachments are a big concern to me, due to the fact that so many of the people I know will open scam attachments thinking they are okay because they are supposedly from people they “know” or sources they trust. The US-Cert has this to say:

Resist believing email chain letters that claim that a well-known anti-virus vendor has recently detected the “worst virus in history” that will destroy your computer’s hard drive. These emails are usually hoaxes (see Identifying Hoaxes and Urban Legends for more information). You can confirm virus information through your anti-virus vendor or through resources offered by other anti-virus vendors.

The best way to stay protected is to stay informed! Do the research first before downloading anything or visiting sites without checking their security. The US-CERT has useful information found here too, that all should read.