U.S. "under widespread attack in cyberspace"

2 Apr 2008

Summary

According to research conducted by McAfee, the U.S. is engaged in cyber-warfare against a host of threats -- from the Taliban and other terrorist organizations, from criminal organizations around the world, and from nearly 120 countries with China at the forefront.

Greg Garcia, the assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications at the Department of Homeland Security, says that “We’re vulnerable every day.” The department reports 37,000 attempts to breach government and private systems between October 2006 and September 2007 compared with 24,000 the previous year. Attacks on federal agencies increased 152 percent during the same period, from about 5,000 to almost 13,000.

The story goes on to say that “A worst-case attack could shut down computer command-and-control systems that run banking, water and sewer systems, traffic lights, oil and gas networks, and nearly every other element of the public infrastructure.” Read the story.

Things to think about

Beyond simply raising awareness that Internet safety is a very real issue for everyone, this article serves as an important reminder that every Internet user has a civic responsibility to actively protect their computers with security software.

Do your part

Protect your computer. Failure to protect your computer increases everyone’s risk. Criminals and terrorist groups can take over unprotected computers turning them into “zombies” that obey commands without their owners ever realizing it. Criminals can amass hundreds of thousands of these computers into huge connected networks, or botnets. The network is controlled by remote ”robot” commands and is used for these attacks (as well as to send spam and run fraud schemes). Some studies suggest that a quarter of all personal computers are already infected. A 2006 study by Jupiter, a market research, trends, and statistics firm, confirmed this. It found that 29 percent of home computers do not have even an antivirus program installed

Check with the sender before you open files or click links in email or instant messages. Opening a file or photo from someone whose machine is infected can infect your computer – even when it's from someone you trust. Given the high percentage of computers that are undefended, you can’t assume the computer is protected. It’s also possible that they may be completely unaware that their computer has been compromised.

The internet connects all our computers, and we’re only as strong as the weakest link.

Linda

Learn more about how to protect your computer in the Technology Toolkit section of Look Both Ways: Help protect your family on the Internet.