[extropy-chat] Privacy, Security?? Don't make me laugh.

BillK pharos at gmail.com
Wed Nov 24 13:54:46 UTC 2004


On Wed, 24 Nov 2004 05:14:17 -0800 (PST), Mike Lorrey wrote:
> 
> --- BillK <pharos at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Nine out of ten computers connected to the internet are infested with
> > viruses and spyware. The general public STILL click on email
> > attachments, give their data to phishing sites and respond to
> > spam offers. They don't install software patches and forget to
> > update their antivirus and spyware defences (if they have any
> > installed at all, that is).
> 
> I highly doubt it is nine out of ten. In my years I've only seen one
> person who repeatedly did the things that result in virus infection
> without learning her lesson. Most people have anti-virus software
> installed, though many don't update it as frequently as they should.
> 

Sorry, I should have quoted more of the sources, but the original
email was getting rather long.
Try, for starters, (but google much, much, more)
<http://www.itfacts.biz/index.php?id=C0_17_1>
<http://www.itfacts.biz/index.php?id=P1954>

20% of Dell support calls are spyware-related
Dell says spyware now affects about 90% of computers. The poll of 724
Internet users, taken Sept. 17 to 19, showed that only 24% of
respondents regard themselves as knowledgeable about how to handle
spyware threats. Spyware-related phone calls now make up as much as
20% of all help calls at Dell, compared with just 1-2% in August 2003.
Oct 17, 04 

US ISP EarthLink is starting to keep score in its fight against
spyware. The internet service provider on Thursday said it found an
average of nearly 28 spyware items on each PC it scanned during the
first quarter. The company, in conjunction with Webroot Software,
conducted a total of 1.06 million scans through its Spy Audit service.
Apr 20, 04

According to FTC, nearly 4.5 million people each year fall for advance
fee scam - a scam where poor-credit individuals are offered
rock-bottom interest rates on credit cards with annual fee charged in
advance by scammers. Phonebusters, a cooperative effort between US and
Canadian law enforcement agencies, estimates phone fraud to be a $1
billion a year business now. The FBI estimates that US citizens send
$100 million each year to Canadian con artists.
Nov 16, 04 

And so on, and on.......

> > Thousands upon thousands of zombie pcs are available to use for any
> > purpose you want - and the owners don't even know.
> 
> Thousands out of tens of millions? Yeah, that sounds about right, but
> not millions.
> 

Zombie networks are only a tiny subset of the general mass of virus
and spyware infected pcs. These zombie networks are used for DOS
attacks to blackmail sites and to send out millions of spam or
phishing or virus emails.

Richard Clarke, former security advisor to the President of the United
States, estimated the number of zombie computer networks at 30,000.
This is a surge from 2,000 networks observed last year. The numbers
are not exactly informative, as it doesn't tell about the total number
of Internet-connected PCs infected with trojan horses and viruses, but
former security advisor and current chairman of Good Harbor Consulting
estimated each network to have a thousand of bots.
Nov 05, 04


Computer security is the exception - not the rule. I would not expect
a survey of your contacts to show the typical lack of interest in
security, Mike. :) I'm sure that you warn them as often as I warn my
friends. But it is a losing battle. Technology is being sold faster
than the security industry can warn people.

BillK



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