
NEW YORK, June 10 (UPI) -- A California computer security expert is warning about a new computer virus that tells hackers about the latest weaknesses in computer networks.
Bruce Schneier of Counterpane Internet Security said the viruses infect a network, scan for security vulnerabilities and then report back to hackers through an Internet Relay Chat channel, a type of online chatroom.
Those hackers can then fine-tune their "bot" viruses to launch more effective denial-of-service attacks or harvest credit card numbers.
Kevin Hogan, senior manager at Symantec's Security Response division in Dublin, Ireland, said good firewalls will prevent hackers from communicating with bots.
Hogan also said once the genuine IP address of the IRC channel host is known, tracking the hacker is not too difficult.
"IRC is how they work, but it's also the Achilles heel of the botnet," he said.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Additional Business News Stories | |
WASHINGTON, May 23 (UPI) --
The planned Keystone XL oil pipeline would move oil away from refineries that produce gasoline, increasing prices, the National Resource Defense Council says.
|
FORT WAYNE, Ind., May 23 (UPI) --
Self-encrypting drives to protect data on mobile platforms such as laptops are to be developed for the U.S. Air Force by ITT Exelis.
|
The housing inventory rose slightly in April, which is unusual in the middle of the spring sales season. The uptick may be the result of rising seller confidence and it should ease concerns that the super tight inventory levels of the last six months...
|
What if Europe turned out to be the new Japan?
|
| Stories | Photos | People | Comments |
View Caption