By Patrick Lambert
February 6, 2012, 6:00 AM PST
Takeaway: Patrick Lambert describes the three main groups of attackers
that security specialists are guarding against.
As Internet access becomes more pervasive across the world, and each of
us spends more time on the web, there’s no question that our attack
surface — how ‘juicy’ a target we are — grows as well. Attackers in turn
take advantage of this, and they use every tool and technique they have
to try and attack us.
Hardly a week goes by without some news report about a new botnet,
malware infection, or hacked website. Lists of user names and passwords
get distributed on pastebin, or a company front page is found to have
been injected with a piece of extra code that infects every visitor with
some spyware, inciting them to spend a hundred bucks on a fake antivirus
product.
These things are now commonplace, and we barely think twice about them
when we read the headlines. Administrators go out, restore the sites,
clean the infections, and life moves on. Sometimes, if it’s a big enough
deal, the FBI or some other law enforcement agency will get a call, but
then it’s their problem.
Hardly a thought goes out to *who, exactly* is behind all these attacks,
why they are happening, and where the attackers are. But a recent TED
talk by Mikko Hypponen raised the question to the attendees, and
suggested that there are three groups making these attacks.
More:
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/security/the-three-types-of-online-a...
--
Dave - "It is much better to be hated for what you are, than to be loved
for what you definitely are not." "Do unto others as you would have them
do unto you."
