Hackers
The
media has used the term "hacker" to describe the malcontents and
deviants that create problems and cause damage to personal and business
computers. Although not all hackers do things with the intent of
causing damage or harm, hackers write malicious programs to gain access to other people's computers without the victim's knowledge or permission.
Hackers can invade your privacy in minutes from anywhere in the world.
They can be on your computer, watching your every keystroke, and you
would never know it. Everything you have on your computer is available
to them. Credit card information, access to your online banking, family
information and records, business information, contracts and other
confidential documents are freely available. If you use passwords, they
can crack them in seconds. If you have a web camera, they can turn it
on and watch you! And this is just the tip of the iceberg. They can do
all this anonymously, in the privacy of their own home, or even from a
public library. It's a free-for-all, because for the most part, they cannot be tracked or traced.
The numbers of hackers (estimated at over 19 million) is increasing at an epidemic rate
because all the education, training and tools needed to become a
hacker, are all available freely over the Internet. For many young
people, playing on the Internet has replaced neighborhood kickball,
school sports and other activities. Coincidentally, the average age of a hacker today is estimated to be 14 years old. The profile of a hacker includes teenage boys and girls, college students, business executives, and even parents.
FACTS:
. It is estimated that there are over 19 million people today with the skills to hack into other computers.
. 1 out of 4 computers will be hacked into this year, according to the FBI.
. The average computer in the U.S. is randomly checked for its setup, presence or weaknesses an average of 17 times a day by unknown sources, according to the U.S. government.
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Hacker Tools
Over the years, hackers have developed tens of thousands of different hacker tools
to break every system and program out there. Their list of tools
includes password crackers; remote access tools (RATs), back doors,
Trojan horses, keystroke loggers, spyware, time bombs, and more. There
is virtually nothing they can't do or break. That's the result of the
work of millions of hackers
each pounding away for hours upon hours to crack everything they can.
This is a never-ending battle as new hacker tools are being created on
a daily basis.
These dangerous hacker tools can be planted on your computer without your knowledge,
and they now even come as a hidden payload inside new computer viruses.
The only way to find and remove these dangerous hacker tools from your
computer is to have the right technology on your PC, along with expert support when you need it.
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Viruses & Worms
Hackers have become very good at writing computer viruses and worms and have caused literally billions of dollars in damage.
You've probably heard about the more damaging ones on the news. And
there's a good chance that you've been infected with a virus or worm
yourself, or you know someone who has. You may not even know you've been infected in most cases if you don't have the right anti-virus protection.
Viruses
in the past have been more of an expensive nuisance than anything,
infecting millions of computers with no real purpose. Viruses of the
past caused performance problems on computers, possibly even shutting
them down, forcing victims to have a professional remove the virus or
reformat the computer. But the resulting damages has been staggering.
FACTS:
. There are over 500 new viruses and worms released on the Internet each month.
. At least 82% of current anti-virus users have been recently infected with a virus.
. Less than 33% of those using anti-virus are working from a current anti-virus database.
. New, fast moving viruses and worms can infect hundreds of thousands of computers in a matter of a few hours.
.
It can take many hours, even days, for security firms to create an
anti-virus signature to defend against new viruses. Everyone is very
susceptible to infection during that time.
. You can be infected through emails, instant messenger, downloads and by simply surfing the web.
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Hybrid Viruses
There is a very dangerous evolution
in computer viruses recently. New hybrid viruses and worms no longer
simply duplicate themselves and tie up email inboxes and mail servers,
slowing down the Internet and crashing computers. These new hybrid
viruses actually carry a damaging "payload" that is far more hazardous and can cause you a lot of pain and cost you a lot of money.
Viruses and worms like SoBig, MyDoom, and Bagle automatically install hacker tools on the victim's computer. These viruses that come with hacker tools give the virus writer and other hackers a back door access to your computer - even after the virus has been cleaned off the machine!
Other new hybrid viruses actually scan your computer for your personal information
like credit card numbers, passwords, online banking usernames and
passwords, and even your address book, and automatically send that
information back to the creator of the virus. With these hybrid virus
attacks, hackers do more than just crash your computer; they can have complete control over your machine. Experts believe that many of these dangerous new hybrid viruses may be part of an aggressive effort by hackers, organized crime groups, or even cyber-terrorists.
FACTS:
. The MyDoom virus become the most prolific virus of all time in a matter of a few weeks, infecting millions of PCs around the world and causing an estimated $38 billion in damages thus far.
. All the PCs infected with MyDoom were controlled by the virus creators and used together in a massive international cyber-attack on 2 U.S. corporations in March 2004.
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