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What is a Hacker?

A Hacker is a person who is proficient at computer programming. The Hacker may enjoy what he / she views as the challenge of breaking into other computers. If successful, the Hacker may have access to what ever information or power the electronic system or network holds. This does not necessarily mean that Hackers do this illegally, there a many sites for which hacking is encouraged. Hacking contests are held and some companies before putting out a product actually hire Hackers to try and find weaknesses in the software of the product. However, calling one's self a Hacker does not necessarily mean a thing. It is much better to be described as a Hacker by others then to call yourself one and risk being known as an unl33t h0xar (pronounced unleet hoxar, meaning something similar to un-cool trickster). The Hacker community considers themselves something of an elite (a meritocracy based on ability), though one to which new members are gladly welcome and encouraged to join.

Despite all the precautions and billions of dollars spent to protect companies, consumers and private individuals, we must all keep in mind that bad hackers are out there. An experienced hacker has the potential to intercept and open email that doesn't belong to him/her. They could then use that private information any way they wish. Hackers have the potential to hack into company and private networks and leave viruses that contaminate the system, spreading from computer to computer, erasing and compromising hard drives to the point where they could no longer be used. Hackers also have the potential to break into marketing databases (the huge lists of names, addresses, phone numbers and occasionally credit card numbers) and take any information that the database may hold about you or anyone else. Recently, "five hackers, aged 15-17, hacked 26 internet service providers in the US and overseas. They stole a list of 200,000 user accounts from Pacific Bell and were able to successfully steal the passwords for about 95,000 of those accounts. An FBI survey of Fortune 500 companies found that 62% had reported computer security breaches in the last year." said a report from BBC News

 

What is a Virus?

A dangerous computer program with the characteristic feature of being able to generate copies of itself, and thereby spreading. Additionally most computer viruses have a destructive payload that is activated under certain conditions. Also it can be a  computer program with the ability to modify other programs usually to the determent of the computer system.

 

What is a Worm?

A computer worm is a self-replicating computer program, similar to a computer virus. A virus attaches itself to, and becomes part of, another executable program; however, a worm is self-contained and does not need to be part of another program to propagate itself. They are often designed to exploit the file transmission capabilities found on many computers.

 

What is Adware?

Adware is advertising-supported software that displays pop-up advertisements whenever the program is running. The software is usually available via free download from the Internet, and it is the advertisements that create revenue for the company. Although seemingly harmless (aside from intrusiveness and annoyance of pop-up ads), adware can install components onto your computer that track personal information (including your age, gender, location, buying preferences, surfing habits, etc.).

Most advertising supported software doesn't inform you that it installs adware on your system, other than via buried reference in a license agreement. In many cases the software will not function without the adware component. Some Adware can install itself on your computer even if you decline the offer.

 

What is System Monitoring Software?

System monitors are applications designed to monitor computer activity to various degrees. These programs can capture virtually everything you do on your computer including recording all keystrokes, emails, chat room dialogue, web sites visited, and programs run. System monitors usually run in the background so that you do not know that you are being monitored. The information gathered by the system monitor is stored on your computer in an encrypted log file for later retrieval.

Some programs are capable of emailing the log files to another location. Traditionally, system monitors had to be installed by someone with administrative access to your computer, such as a system administrator or someone that shares your computer. However, there has been a recent wave of system monitoring tools disguised as email attachments or "freeware" software products.

 

What is a Trojan Horse?

They usually carry out their actions without the user noticing. Trojans Horses or Trojans are malicious programs that appear as harmless or desirable applications. Trojans are designed to cause loss or theft of computer data, and to destroy your system. Some Trojans, called RATs (Remote Administration Tools), allow an attacker to gain unrestricted access of your computer whenever you are online. The attacker can perform activities such as file transfers, adding/deleting files or programs, and controlling the mouse and keyboard. Trojans are generally distributed as email attachments or bundled with another software program.

Trojans are named after the mythical Horse of Troy, a large, wooden horse that Greek soldiers left at the doors of the city of Troy, after a long battle. Thinking that the Greek army had withdrawn, the Trojans took the horse into the city. However, at nightfall, the Greeks got out of the horse and attacked the city, thus destroying the city of Troy.

In computing, Trojans are, apparently harmless programs that after reaching a computer, carry out several actions without the user noticing. Unlike other malicious code, Trojans do not replicate by infecting other computers and so their capacity to spread is limited.

Depending on the actions they carry out on the affected computers, Trojans can be classified into the following types:

- Destructive Trojans are designed to delete certain files, format the hard disk, or carry out similar destructive action.

- Backdoor Trojans are designed open a backdoor in the computer to let hackers enter and take remote control of it. For this reason they consist of two components: the server, installed on the machine under attack and the client, used by the hacker to control the computer.

- Keylogger Trojans are programmed to capture the user's keystrokes. This information is stored in a special log that can be accessed by the attacker.

- Fake Trojans, which after being run, display false error messages prompting users to enter user names and passwords which are then sent on to the creator of the malicious code.
 

 

When you cannot remove a virus

In most cases in which an antivirus program cannot remove a virus, the problem is because the virus itself is interfering with the removal process, or the virus is new and the computer does not yet have updated information for removing that particular virus. Call a professional with the knowledge to advise you on what action you should take next.

 

Is your computer acting Unusual ?

Unusual computer behavior or system problems have many possible causes. Infections, adware or spy ware (detected by Norton Antivirus 2004 and 2005) are only a couple of the causes. To rule out an infection contact a computer technician for help with troubleshooting the real cause of the problems.

 

If you own a company

Despite the time, energy, and money that companies funnel into products to maintain network security, their network's biggest threat is frequently from the inside. In addition to having basic security measures in place (such as firewalls, virus and mobile code protection, and content filtering) companies also need to focus on training employees in order to reduce the impact of the human threat.

According to the 1999 Computer Security Institute/FBI Computer Crime and Security Survey, 38 percent of respondents had one to five security breaches originate within their organizations, while 16 percent had six to ten. Many security breaches occurred because untrained employees were unaware of how their computer use -- email or Internet -- impacted company security. Employees may fall prey to social engineering tactics, inadvertently downloading malicious code, or disgruntled employees may intentionally try to harm the company.

 

 

When to Contact a Technician

Error: "Norton Antivirus was unable to repair the infected file" when Norton Antivirus 2005, 2004, 2003 detects a threat

If you suspect your computer's security has be breached by a Virus, Worm, Pop-ups, Spy ware, Key logger or anything with Malicious code call a computer technician for help.  Your Identity, Passwords, User names, Email Addresses, Your friends Computer systems and there friends computer systems could all be at risk for theft or software and hardware destruction with the spread of a single virus.   There are many other suspicious and/or annoying programs that can find their way onto your computer without your express knowledge. These programs often come bundled with third-party programs or can be installed as “drive-by downloads.” Some of these programs have spyware capabilities, while others may serve as an annoyance or negatively affect your system resources. There are many terms for these types of programs including scumware, annoyanceware, parasites, malware, etc.

Whether you use a personal computer or work on a company mainframe you should know the most common signs of computer virus activity. These include:

• Applications that don't work properly.

• Disks can't be accessed.

• Printing doesn't work correctly.

• Pull-down menus are distorted.

• File size changes for no apparent reason.

• Date of last access does not match date of last use.

• An increase in the number of files on the system when nothing has been added

• Uncommanded disk drive activity.

• Unusual error messages.

• System slows down, freezes or crashes.

If your Computer is doing any of the above every day or every other day, call a computer technician for help.
 

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