The New Internet Security Threats
Foreword By The Editor
In this article by Louise Goldstein, a number of important security issues related to the modern Internet, or Web 2.0, as it is commonly known nowadays, are brought into focus. Modern technology is incredibly complex but is now in general use everywhere and its ubiquity is part of the problem. The bad guys are still out there and they are finding ever more ways to attack us. Vigilance has never been more important than now.
Mike Alexander
Author of ‘Internet Traps, Ripoffs And Pitfalls‘
The Modern Internet
Image via Wikipedia
The Internet has given birth to a lot of new possibilities. It is a worldwide marketplace, a communication gateway, a networking venue, and a lot more. However, it has also opened us up to new dangers: viruses, trojans, and many other kinds of Internet malware are all over cyberspace, ready to launch an attack on whoever is vulnerable.
The first line of defense is knowing the enemy. So take a look at these latest Internet security threats. You just might meet one of them one of these days.
Scareware
Malware today are often disguised as anti-virus software and anti-spyware. Take, for instance, Vista Spyware 2011, Windows Restore, and Microsoft Security Center 2011. These software pretend to scan your computer then pretend to find viruses and registry problems and other stuff that should scare you into paying for the software to clean up your computer. (That’s why they are called scareware: because they scare you).
But in truth, the viruses and registry issues were never there in the first place, so you end up spending money to fix troubles your computer never really had.
LizaMoon
This is another scareware that is causing problems for millions of Internet users.
As of March 31, 2011, this malware has been found crawling on more than 500,000 web sites and has shown to be one of the most rapidly spread virus attacks in Internet history. What is worse, this virus not only tricks you into paying for basically useless software, it has also been reported to drain its victims’ credit cards.
Mobile Phones And Social Networks
Mobile phones and social networks are popular new targets for online attacks. Facebook and Twitter users are particularly vulnerable because the messages that contain malicious links come labeled with the names of people they know and trust, so they are more likely to click on these links.
URL Shorteners have also become common tools for driving people to malicious sites, as you never really know what you are clicking on until you reach the site in question.
Mobile phones are popular targets these days. After all, as Denis Maslennikov, a senior malware analyst at Kaspersky Lab, explains, “Any mobile device, be it a smartphone or a basic mobile phone, has a direct connection to its owner’s money via their mobile account”.
Router Attack
While you are worrying about the safety of your computer or your web site, by the way, you might want to worry about your router as well. Hackers who have become bored with taking down Web servers through traffic flooding are now shifting their attention to routers, taking advantage of the vulnerabilities of the Border Gateway Protocol to take servers down. Unfortunately, there is not as yet a quick-and-easy way to protect routers from hacking.
In addition to implementing tighter authentication processes, filtering direct traffic better, and getting tools to detect and trace attacks, ISPs and carriers need to band together and, as a group, implement a protocol that will tighten overall security. This will prevent hackers from infiltrating a secured ISP by tunneling through a trusted-but-less-secure ISP network.
Protecting Yourself
For most of us, the best and easiest way to protect ourselves online is by investing in good quality Internet protection software. If you are low risk, meaning you don’t download a lot of stuff and seldom click on links, you can survive on a free one and there are many good free anti-malware programs from reputable companies out there.
However, if you love to download files, be they movies, PDFs, and most especially, software, or if you like to click links on Twitter or Facebook, you should definitely invest in a good, paid Internet security software. Never trust pop-ups that claim to find more problems than your reputable antivirus has warned you about.
Malware may have grown more sophisticated these days, but anti-virus companies have likewise grown smarter. There is no reason why you should be out in the cold when it comes to online protection.
About The Author
To be sure you are always protected you should have antivirus software installed on your computer. Antivirus review sites will keep you updated with the latest information on viruses.
