hmmm.......an interesting test.....nay experiment
Hackers Target Teens and Young Surfers
Recently I put four Windows 7 systems, fully patched & updated, with current anti-virus, through the most difficult security test that I could imagine:
I unleashed seven teenagers upon them.
The teens were given no restrictions, or pre-security warnings, just to surf as they normally would. Two hours later, each computer was full of viruses.
Well, I wouldn't complain about it being 'long'... Depending on the types of teens and what they were looking for, infection of a computer will vary. Invariably, an unprotected, full access computer will be bound to get a virus due to the fact that teenagers will hit the following sites:
Song Lyrics - Hell, most adults do that too for some of the music they use to like.
Getting Music - Pirated or otherwise.
Porn - Ah, the healthy appetite of teenagers and hormones.
Games - Pirated as well as just free games - Also happens to adults as well.
Popular Fan Sites with terribad security - Common these days
Social Networking Sites - Also common these days.
The thing is, it isn't just TEENS that have the problem. Do the same thing with a few adults who don't have credit cards and you will also get similar results.
The one thing that will definitely be common among teens and adults who had infected computers is the LACK of common sense training or basic computer security. And this comes from the fact that a computer is considered something like a refrigerator or an interactive TV set. You plug in the stuff, turn it on and off you go. Nothing about being careful or safe for that simple fact, no one cares or bothers until it blows up.
Back in the 80s, when the PC and Apple first came out, most people took courses to learn how to use the computer or ran the little tutorial stuff to understand some of the basics.
These days, I still recall people asking me if they can recover something they have been working for HOURS on... Ignoring things such as the 15 minute rule about saving often as you can to avoid potential loss. That is what happens when something mainstream happens... More and more people use something complex, but doesn't learn the basics and be utterly surprised at how all of the sudden all sorts of problems happen on their computer.
Hi there
It's generally NOT pirated music that causes problems as these are generally MP3 files that are destined for Ipods / portable music players.
You are even relatively safe playing these on your PC as well -- it's difficult to launch an executable program able to cause problems from within an mp3 codec stream for example.
Any corruption / malware within an MP3 file will just be ignored by the portable music player or perhaps be present as a click sound or an artifact.
Most viruses are caused by things like Key gens / pirated programs or problems caused by opening unchecked email attachments or logging on to "dubious sites" where so called "drive by infection" occurs.
Note I'm not saying its OK to download pirated music -- all I'm saying that is likely to be the LEAST cause of a virial infection.
Cheers
jimbo
Actually, Pirated music is put in because to get the pirated music, you go to sites that are generally not safe in general or people will try to get free music of videos, where corrupted or modified Media files are used to trick people to install a malware in belief that they will actually get what they want.
Case in point - A user brought in an infected laptop because her boyfriend went and did that very thing, as well as the fact that the user did not activate the installed AV on her laptop...
The simple fact is that it is what vectors people focus on, hackers and malware writers will also target those possible vectors and will get people infected because of the simple fact most average computer users are pretty much ignorant of what can happen.
I notice a common attack vector is fake antivirus websites. People will quite often click without even thinking about it on something that says their computer is infected even though it's just an ad. This is another issue, people are conditioned to simply click on things without thinking about it. A study was in fact performed regarding this with a button that users were actually told via text to not click as it would infect their PCs (it was a fake of course but the people clicking it didn't know that) and it was found that a large percentage of them clicked the button anyway because they didn't bother to read any instructions or any other text, just the button.
Another issue I see very often is people will buy a new PC that usually has a trial copy of an antivirus and they will not activate it. What's more, they don't go about getting another antivirus because they believe it's actually active and working. When I explain it to them, they usually give me a look of bewilderment and they don't understand the problem because they still believe an active AV that is up to date is on their PC. I have to use the analogy of expired insurance to explain it and then they begin to understand.
A problem in general is the lack of education and also the lack of caring from many people that just see the computer, as keiichi25 said, as nothing more than some appliance that should just be turned on and work. They don't think about how to use it or what they should do with it. They should think it about more like a tool that needs to be used properly but alas, people for the most part just don't care. Working in support, I often get people who will call in and when I even begin to try and troubleshoot with them to get them to click on something, they'll respond with "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not paid to do or know any of this. You fix it." The common example being the lost document and people not saving along the way then wondering why they can't get it back. I remember one user called in once after sending an e-mail and said he wanted to get it back and not have it sent. He wanted it recalled. I told him that he could technically recall it but it wouldn't really do anything except tell the person he is trying to recall it but the person will still be able to see the original message; apparently he had accidentally sent this person a nastygram he meant to send to someone else that talked badly about this person. I told him unfortunately there's nothing that can be done because it's like a letter that was sent via regular mail and had already arrived, once it's there, not much you can do to get it back. This sent him into a rage because he thought the computer was a piece of junk for not being able to do what he wanted.
But getting back to the viruses, it's really just a lack of user education. I often get the question from customers if they can install file-sharing software on their own PCs to download pirated music. I could tell them about how it's bad to pirate music and what not but this usually gets the response from customers of tuning me out so I don't even bother with the ethical implications anymore. I now always respond with the fact that they technically can except these are like virus magnets if you don't know how to use them properly and what's more, any software warranty they have with me is completely invalid the second they install this software. Even with this explanation, they don't care usually and I'll get their infected PC back within a month or two and repeat the same speech to the same customer who is now much more attentive because they had to pay me again to fix their PC after their screw up.
Again, it's all about education and caring just a little bit about your PC; a great tool for many purposes. I tell people that it's like a car, if you don't maintain it properly and take care of it properly, then it's not going to last you very long.
Actually, the Fake Anti-virus vector is a two prong issue.
First Prong - Compromised Ad Providers. With websites using clickthrough ads and popups to try and provide support income for their websites, they sometimes get crappy Ad Providers that have been hit by hackers so that Cross-Site Injection methodologies get in there.
I have had some clients who have been hit just going to Fox Sports, for instance, because one of Fox's ad providers got hit.
Second Prong - Knee Jerk Reactions. Roughly about 12 years ago... People sent out e-mails about how a virus is on your computer. You do a search, you find <insert random Windows necessary file here>, you should delete it because it is a virus.
Well, this day and age... The new way to do it is to malware you and make you think you have a virus... There were even a few popup ads that scare you into installing something to 'improve your computer performance'. Again, the problem there is that people aren't educated to look for the signs, they just react to the warnings.
The sad thing is... I learned about commercialism pick-a-parts back when I was in High School, that was like, 20 some years ago... And the sad thing of it all, it doesn't seem to be working for a lot of people these days.
Hi there
another place you might get attacked are from thos WRETCHED "SNEAKWARE" sites.
For example there are a few sites around that offer to scan your computer (I'd NEVER allow that BTW) and offer to find the latest drivers etc etc for you.
Then if you are mad or crazy enough to go through this rigmarole inspite of the risk you then get the inevitable message about you need to access the PAY FOR part of the site.
Even when they say FREE download -- it's just the Scanning program thats free not the other part that actually will give you the driver etc you want.
I HATE those type of sites with a Vengeance which is why I label them SNEAKWARE sites.
So you are doubly hosed up here -- a possible infection of the "Scanning Program" and then they want money from you when they think they've located a driver for you.
I'd love to put a Hex on all those wretched sites;
Cheers
jimbo
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