Food For Thought

Below is a note that I fired off to customers on April 14, 2004. What is mentioned in this informal letter is not normally realized by end users but should be.

Hello Everyone,

I was speaking to a client today about network security and being proactive against attacks to his network. He said to me that his information wasn't that important and that "if they get in it doesn't matter because I don't have anything they would want", and that made me think. One thing that I have overlooked when discussing security is that your data or intellectual property stored in your computers isn't the only thing that the hacker is looking for. You do have other assets that they want.

Storage Space - Hackers can use your systems to hide malicious code, movies, music, pictures and other material that they don't want to get caught with on their own machine(s).

IP Address - Hackers can use your system's IP address (unique internet identifier) to break into another more interesting system like CIA, FBI, IRS, Budweiser or other systems so the intrusion is traced to your computers' IP address instead of his/hers. The IP address can also be used to hide their identity if they want to spam. A mail application could be loaded on one of your computers and then when the hacker is ready he/she can "awaken" your computer to act as a "zombie" and fire out spam to as many e-mail addresses as he/she wants. Thus masking were he/she is and marking your IP as a spammer site. Unless you put up a big fight with your ISP (internet service provider) you could lose your access to the internet and end up being black listed by other ISPs. Another way to exploit your IP address is to use your "zombie" computer to fire attacks on other systems to make them zombies.

Internet Access Bandwidth - While they are using your systems to pound on other systems and bombard other computer users with spam and so on, they are using your high-speed internet access that you pay for every month to do it. It is incredible to me when I think about how much traffic one jerk can create when you multiply the bandwidth times the number of zombies he/she is controlling to nail us with #$%^*@# SPAM.

Contact List, Address Book - Many people don't think that their address book could be worth anything to anyone else but if you're a spammer it is a treasure chest. Most all of us keep the e-mail addresses in our address book current. This is just what a spammer wants; valid, current e-mail addresses to send those wonderful v1agra, and enlargement pill pusher advertisements.

So in closing, making sure you are proactive in your computer security doesn't only help you and your company, it also helps the internet community as a whole.

James Bertino

Computer & Telephone Consultants, Inc.