With Global Climate, Information Security Professionals Needed

Ever since the dawn of man there has always been a struggle of good versus evil. Read any novel and the conflict that drives the story is either man against man, man against nature, or man against himself. In real life that situation has not changed. The Sophos security firm has recently released their midyear report dealing with security threats, and gathered some revealing facts. Just under sixty three percent of those that utilize the Web believe it is a very satisfactory practice for their particular country to perform acts of spying on other countries using the same techniques hackers and cyber criminals use on individuals, using hacking and malicious software as a weapon. Half of the respondents in the report have stated it is acceptable to use denial of service attacks towards another country to cripple communications and financial operations during times of war, and seven percent of the participants believe a denial of service operation can be performed towards another country without a reason of war. Almost one third of everyone have stated malware espionage should be initiated against private organizations for economic benefits.

One of the consultants, a senior member within Sophos, said, “It may come as a surprise that many individuals believe the Internet can be used as a means of attack in the form of a weapon for spying on others and it is an acceptable practice. There is the other opinion to think of, by supporting this type of activity against others you also must be prepared to have it used against you as well.”

The Sophos report also discovered of all the countries across the globe the United States is the number one country with the largest amount of websites that host malware, coming in at approximately forty two percent. Other countries with websites of a malicious nature is China in just under eleven percent and Russia just above six percent. At sixth place is the United Kingdom with two and a half percent of all accountable websites with malicious intent. “Other countries including the Netherlands, Italy, and France have also made the first 10 positions of the list since the beginning of the year, indicating this is a widespread problem. Many of these websites are actually real and legitimate sites marked as victims by cyber criminals and hackers, representing organizations that could eventually be used as botnets, or used to spread infections to their customer base.”

In other global news, as many as one hundred thousand or more personal computing systems in the United Kingdom have been infected with the Zeus Trojan, allowing the cyber hackers the theft and access to bank logins. The Internet protocol addresses that were compromised were involved in data harvesting. Since it is not known exactly how many customers and clients may have had their bank accounts accessed, it could be a very large number as the Trojan has ability to keep a log of all incoming and outgoing information of the machines that were infected. This particular botnet also has a very advanced and sophisticated engine that mines data, and the ability to seek out particular domains related to banking. What makes this strain of Zeus effective is its remote control ability within a computer system that has been infected, giving the cyber criminals a base of attack towards bank accounts online. As many as two percent of all personal computer users in the United Kingdom could have been a victim of the Zeus Trojan in recent days.

This attack comes on the heels of the arrest of six individuals who had participated in stealing finances from as many as twenty thousand bank accounts online and debit/credit cards. Even though that group is not related to this latest discovery, both situations demonstrate the availability and access cyber criminals possess in getting past bank security measures. The Chief Technology Officer of Trusteer said, “These are examples of botnets related to Zeus that are currently in global operations. These sophisticated strains steal passwords, user identification, and delve into client cookies and certificates in order to harvest as much data as possible. From there the stolen information is directed toward breaking into the individual's accounts online.”

The personal computer systems that have been infected with Zeus are ones that are mainly currently operating Windows XP with a smaller number using Windows Vista. This is a good reason for users everywhere to move up and migrate to Windows 7 as Microsoft's latest operating system contains greater security functionality and capabilities that previous operating systems do not have.

Various studies that are performed measuring the particular strength of a defense against malicious software indicate when in the easiest methods of protection is to use different passwords as well as unique usernames in order to protect who you are and your related information. Research conducted by BitDefender demonstrated individuals consistently use the same password and username to gain access into a number of websites. They have discovered over a quarter of a million passwords, usernames, and e-mail addresses are located in such places as bit torrents, blogs, social networks, collaboration and communication systems, and other related areas. Almost ninety percent of the data they found at one website could be used to gain access within another Internet location. Three quarters of the individuals in the study actually utilize the same password and username for access to their social networking sites and their e-mail. This practice allows personal information to be exposed to very easily. “By using a simple search engine query, an extremely large amount of personal information can be located. Users everywhere should take their passwords and usernames much more seriously and protect their information with a higher quality of awareness. For example, a hacker could use your login information and perform an action as simple as impersonating you in an online game, or create, display, and post adult graphic content under your name. E-mails can be delivered in your name in a very malicious nature.”

It becomes very critical that users and organizations come together in combat malicious software and hackers. CISSP training and certification training involving information security brings a very large amount of knowledge and procedures towards minimizing this online threat. K Alliance explains and details all of the comprehensive issues involving a stronger defense and protection, should an attack against you personally and professionally become a success. Organizational security, access control, business continuity, disaster recovery, security risk management, cryptography, telecommunications, network security, and more is available, leading to a new career as well as the strengthening of your infrastructure.

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