In the past, online threats and viruses seemed to only be found in the dark corners of the internet, where few souls dared to tread. Hackers were out for notoriety and a prankster’s status. Motives have changed, and today there is a new reason for Hacker’s stalking our computers: money. Your information can easily be exploited if left unsecured, giving hackers an opportunity to benefit financially from your failure to protect your computer. In today’s tough economic times, it is critical to safeguard your personal and corporate information from these online threats. Firewalls, operating system updates and anti-virus software are the first lines of defense, and most knowledgeable computer users install them. But if you install and then forget about your anti-virus software, you may be living with a false sense of security.
Online threats come in many forms. Hackers and spammers, email-generated hoaxes, and website compromises are all examples of dangers to safe surfing. According to Symantec, a leader in internet security, hackers or malicious code writers are generating malicious code such as Trojans and Worms at an all time high; over 1,656,227 new malicious code signatures were created during 2008. This is a 165 percent increase over 2007, when 624,267 new malicious code signatures were added. 2009 is sure to be another record setting year for these code writers. Companies like Symantec and Trend Micro that produce anti-virus programs are constantly upgrading their software to detect the newest malicious code. But your computer is protected only if you are installing the updates as they are produced.
Nowadays, all types of websites, even well-known, presumably safe ones, can be affected by malicious code. For example, the New York Times is an august institution, and visitors to its website probably consider it safe. But according to softmedia.com, visitors to www.nytimes.com, reported that they had been redirected to a misleading website that urged them to download bogus antivirus software. Hackers were able to exploit the New York Times website and users who downloaded the software infected their systems with a virus. If their antivirus definitions were up-to-date, this threat may have been averted.
Cyber threats are constantly changing. Your best defense against these threats is to keep your virus definitions, the weapons needed to fend off the bad guys, up to date. You wouldn’t go into battle today with a Zeppelin when your enemy is flying an F-16, would you? Going online with out-of-date virus definitions makes just as little sense. Having an antivirus program installed on your system is only the first step to ensuring your computer remains safe while browsing the web. In order to protect your personal or confidential information from these online threats you must update your antivirus software as often as possible, typically when the antivirus vendor releases the updates. Many vendors recommend setting your antivirus programs to update automatically to eliminate the chance of missing a critical patch. For more information on the latest security trends visit: www.us-cert.gov or your antivirus provider’s website.
Crystal M. Craven, Network Administrator, Hancock Askew & Co., LLP. President of ITPA of Savannah and the Creative Coast IT Connection. Crystal may be reached at ccraven@hancockaskew.com or 912-527-2791.
