Protecting Yourself Online
VIRUSES, TROJANS, & WORMS
Computer viruses are the
"common cold" of modern
technology.
One e-mail in every 200
containing a virus.
Virus-scanning company
MessageLabs said it stopped 9.3
million viruses in 2 billion e-mails
last year, which equated to one
virus in every 215 e-mails.
Protecting Yourself Online
Virus
A computer program that replicates by attaching
itself to another object.
Trojan Horse
A program with hidden destructive functionality.
Worm
A computer program that replicates
independently by sending itself to other
systems.
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HOW DO WE GET INFECTED?
Email
Sharing Floppies & CDs
Downloading Warez
Peer To Peer File Sharing
(Napster, Kazaa)
Back Alley Websites
Instant Messaging
And finally as of lately…
Just connecting to the Internet
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August 2003
Blaster, which zeroes in on the Windows 2000 and Windows XP
operating systems, has been timed to attack a Microsoft security
website distributing the patch needed to stop the worm in its tracks
before it hits millions of users. It was ultimately derived from a
package created by a Chinese group called Xfocus.
Protecting Yourself Online
Infections spread at a steady rate, with the
worm taking over 30,000 systems per hour
during peak times.
The new infections rate peaked around 11pm on Monday,
with over 68,000 new infected IP addresses appearing
in that hour.
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SATELLITE BASED HIGH speed internet
provider Direcway, reports that its customers
are running a 10-20% infection rate.
Direcway's service was effectively
unusable for almost 2 weeks.
Direcway has cut off service to all of
their customers with the blaster virus, in
order for their network to survive.
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So How Does That Affect Me?
• Render your computer useless
• Delete your files
• Use your computer against others (possibly legal
trouble for you)
• You could lose Internet privileges.
• Gain important personal information about you
(passwords, finances, etc)
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Instant Messaging Dangers…
If configured incorrectly, a file-sharing
mechanism can share far more than you
intend.
Once a worm or virus has control of your
machine, it can use file-sharing and
transmission features to send your personal
information to a malicious third party or to
propagate itself.
CERT/CC indicate that tens of thousands of
systems have recently been compromised
in this manner.
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Instant Messaging Dangers…
•Keep IM within the firewall.
•Install a gateway product.
•Encrypt messages.
Block file transfers.
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The KRESV test for Email
• The Know test: Is the email from someone that you
know?
• The Received test: Have you received email from
this sender before?
• The Expect test: Were you expecting email with an
attachment from this sender?
• The Sense test: Does email from the sender with the
contents as described in the Subject line and the name
of the attachment(s) make sense?
• The Virus test: Does this email contain
a virus? To determine this, you need to
install and use an anti-virus program
Protecting Yourself Online
Password Defenses
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Protection
 Use a combination of characters, numbers and, if possible,
symbols. Alternate the capitalization, interchanging upper case
with lower case.
 Don't use common words.
 Don't use proper names, names of family or friends.
 Don't use the same password for everything.
 Never give out your password to strangers.
 Change passwords periodically.
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Protection
 Install Antivirus Software and Keep It Up To
Date.
 Activate full-time protection.
 Make sure “All Files” are scanned.
 Turn On Automatic Updating
 Use a personal firewall – (Hardware/Software)
 Keep regular backups of important data.
 Keep your operating system up to date.
 Be cautious of email attachments even if you
know the sender.
Protecting Yourself Online
Protection
FIREWALLS
An Internet Router, which is installed between your
Internet connection and the rest of your network, protects
your network by making your individual computers virtually
invisible to the outside world
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System Updates
Protection
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Questions?