Did you know that right now, you could be involved in the sale and distribution of child pornography and not know it? This is because two things you're familiar with - computer viruses and spam - are being used by criminals to involve you in their illegal activities.It's not surprising to anyone with an e-mail account to learn that spam has reached epidemic proportions. In fact, more spam was intercepted in July, 2003 than in all of 2002 combined, and now accounts for 50% of all e-mail received! (Source: MessageLabs)
The number of virus and virus-like attacks have also increaseddramatically. On average, they are present in about one in 166 e-mails. (Source: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-5058168.html)
So, what does this spam epidemic and the rise in e-mail delivered viruses have to do with child pornography?
In this scam, Trojan horse attacks are the culprits. If you don't know EXACTLY what a Trojan horse is, you are extremely vulnerable. Read a simple and concise explanation here: http://www.irchelp.org/irchelp/security/trojan.html
These Trojan horse programs, delivered and embedded into thousands of home and business computers via spam e-mail, then execute their programs to literally hijack the PC's in order to remotely relay ads for pornographic web sites.
Since the pornographic images are not actually written to the hard drive, the owner of the PC never even knows what's going on...yet porn ads are being spammed to millions of e-mail addresses from his/her IP address!
Porn is BIG business on the Net, raking in billions of dollars annually, and one of the most effective way to advertise the hundreds of thousands of porn sites is by spamming millions of people every day.
Hijackers use the victims' computers to vastly increase the scope of their spam campaigns. An additional benefit is that if a victim's ISP terminates their Internet account because of spam complaints, the hijackers are unfazed because they havethousands of additional computers doing their dirty work for them.
And when the hijackers turn into cyber-criminals and begin using the same methods to engage in child pornography and exploitation, you could get caught up in a very serious situation.
In one recent case "a man accused of storing CHILDpornography on his computer was cleared after it emerged that his computer had been infected by a Trojan horse, which was responsible for transferring the images onto his PC."
But before he was cleared of the charges, "Julian Green, 45, was taken into custody...after police with a search warrant raided his house. He then spent a night in a police cell, nine days in Exeter prison and three months in a bail hostel. During this time, his ex-wife won custody of his seven year old daughter and possessionof his house." (Source: ZDNet® UK/August 1, 2003)
When it comes to the sexual exploitation of children, merely being accused of involvement can be enough to ruin a person's reputation.
And for all those who like to share files, it's been reported that Peer-To-Peer networks, including the music site Kazaa® are currently being investigated in the US for pornography swapping.
As these types of attacks increase, they're likely to expand from the realm of pornography peddling and child exploitation into many other illegal activities.
Think about it: a criminal anywhere in the world could remotely (and without your knowledge) use your home or office computer for money laundering, extortion, pyramid scams...even terrorist network communications. All traceable back to YOUR IP address.
An updated virus program and personal firewall can give you some measure of protection. Being aware of the dangers and taking steps to AVOID trouble before it's too late is the other and equally important half of your defense.
There are two (free) things you can do right now to begin to protect yourself and your family from online scams like this one:
First, you can run a free Trojan scan on your computer. Anti-virus programs don't scan for Trojans, so this is a very important diagnostic you'll want to perform as soon as possible. Just go to: http://www.trojanscan.com/trojanscan
Second, you can sign up for a free information-packed 7-Part Scam Alert Course by sending a BLANK e-mail (no subject) to this address: scamalertcourse@cwright.par32.com
Ignoring the threat isn't an option any longer. Automated e-mail harvesters are stripping e-mail addresses from millions of web sites and ISP data bases this very minute...and this scam is just one among hundreds victimizing thousands of people everyday...
About the Author: Christopher Wright, a former consultant with one of the world's largest computer companies, is an expert on online scam prevention, and author of "SurferBeware! How to Protect Yourself From the Current Epidemic of Online Scams". For more info go to: http://www.milliondollarresources.com/
| DISCLAIMER: The content provided in this article is not warranted or guaranteed by Developer Shed, Inc. The content provided is intended for entertainment and/or educational purposes in order to introduce to the reader key ideas, concepts, and/or product reviews. As such it is incumbent upon the reader to employ real-world tactics for security and implementation of best practices. We are not liable for any negative consequences that may result from implementing any information covered in our articles or tutorials. If this is a hardware review, it is not recommended to open and/or modify your hardware. |
More Website Content Articles
More By Developer Shed
developerWorks - FREE Tools! |
As businesses grow increasingly dependent upon Web applications to provide services to customers, employees and partners, these complex applications become more difficult to secure. Although traditional security solutions protect Internet infrastructure layers, they do not guard against HTTP and HTML attacks. Many organizations that conduct security testing still deploy applications that allow attackers to manipulate their logic and wreak havoc on their business. To mitigate this risk, development and delivery teams must address Web application security throughout the lifecycle, addressing the many layers detailed in this paper. FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Download a free trial version of IBM DB2 9.5 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows. DB2 9 is the result of a five-year development project that transformed traditional (static) database technology into an interactive data server that merges the high performance and ease of use of DB2 with the self-describing benefits of XML. FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Visit IBM developerWorks to download IBM DB2 Express-C 9.5, a no-charge version of DB2 Express 9 database server. DB2 Express-C offers the same core data server base features as other DB2 Express editions and provides a solid base to build and deploy applications developed using C/C++, Java, .NET, PHP, and other programming languages. FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Visit IBM developerWorks to download the latest trial version of IBM Data Studio V1.1 at no cost. IBM Data Studio is a comprehensive data management solution that helps you effectively design, develop, deploy and manage your data, databases, and database applications throughout the data management life cycle utilizing a consistent and integrated user interface. Unlike other client-side data management solutions that focus on only one aspect of the application lifecycle or database administration, Data Studio complements the Rational Software Delivery platform, providing unparalleled flexibility for a heterogeneous data server environment across platforms. FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Analysts, architects, and developers who have existing COBOL or PL/I skills and want to extend those skills to deploy new workloads on the mainframe can use the IBM Enterprise Modernization Sandbox for System z to find hands-on walkthroughs of common real world scenarios. The scenarios provide examples of how to rapidly design, create, assemble, test, and deploy high-quality Web, Web services, portal, and SOA applications for IBM CICS, IBM IMS, and IBM WebSphere Application Server. FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Rational Build Forge Express Edition is an automation framework that packages the latest enterprise-grade technologies into a reliable, flexible and robust configuration designed and priced specifically for small to midsize businesses. The new Rational Build Forge Express eKit provides you with valuable resources – including a case study, podcast, demo, and articles – to help you increase staff productivity, compress development cycles and deliver better software, fast. FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Discover how Rational tools and best practices for testing can make your job easier. The new Rational Testing eKits provide you with valuable resources – including demos, webcasts, tutorials, and articles – that help you address your specific testing needs across the software lifecycle. Five new eKits are available covering the topics of Requirements and Test Management, Functional Testing, Performance Testing, Code Quality and Embedded Systems, and SOA and Web Services Testing. FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Visit IBM developerWorks to try the IBM SOA Sandbox for people. The SOA Sandbox for people provides a trial environment with the necessary tooling and components required to enable consistent human and process interaction and collaboration, showing how you can improve user experience and business productivity. FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Join the IBM Watchfire team for an informative discussion on techniques and best practices to proactively manage Web application security and how to effectively build application security testing into the software development lifecycle (SDLC). In this Software Delivery Platform webcast you will learn: How to better understand potential web application security vulnerabilities, best practices and how to effectively integrate application security testing into the software development lifecycle, the importance of detecting and removing software vulnerabilities during application development. FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Explore how Rational and WebSphere software enable enterprise documentation in SOA environments. Specifically, a new integration between IBM WebSphere® Business Modeler and IBM Rational® Method Composer software can help technical writers more easily keep enterprise operations manuals in sync with changes that are made to business processes, resulting in more accurate and timely documentation that benefits the entire enterprise. FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
All FREE IBM® developerWorks Tools! |