- Introduction
- The Spyware Scenario
- The Security Breach
- Corrective Actions
- Don't Be an Unwitting Collaborator
Don't Be an Unwitting Collaborator
Currently, hackers are releasing more flexible and sophisticated programs designed to thwart protective mechanisms against spyware. These new types of spyware will try to get permission to penetrate firewalls to send out information. Even worse, some new worms and Trojans have been designed to disable firewall applications that may be running on a system, so that they can report sensitive data back to Internet Relay Chat (IRC) rooms or other locations.
Spyware is a very useful tool for cyberterrorists to gather important and sensitive information from a targeted network. Simply by planting a piece of spyware on the target's network, they can sit back and have the information come to them, instead of them having to go out onto the Net, cracking the system, and get it themselves. Saddam Hussein can have his hackers build a spyware program that, once installed, could do keyword searches on documents residing on the network and send these documents back in the form of an email, instant messages, or over an IRC channel.
To protect yourself and not become an unwitting collaborator with cyber-terrorists, stay up to date and install applications to monitor incoming and outgoing transmissions, and alert you if a spyware program tries to reach the outside world to send any information.