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Sleeping Too Well? Read This.

Helping to keep you safe and slumber-free, the Department of Homeland Security and the National Cyber Security Alliance have released their list of top emerging internet threats for 2006.

As it turns out, there's actually relatively little to worry about.  Unless of course you use instant messaging.  Or if you have an online brokerage account.  Or an e-mail account.  Or if you own a cell phone.  Or use the internet.  Or, well...

Emerging Internet Threats for 2006

• Hackers Use Instant Messaging To Spread Viruses and Worms:  ... The Virkel virus opened a backdoor in consumers’ security software, giving hackers access to files and personal information and disabling parts of anti-virus and other security software.  Since consumers are largely unaware of the fact that IM and text message services can be used to spread viruses, they are extremely vulnerable to these types of attacks.

• Phishing Fraud Becomes More Prevalent and Sophisticated:  ...  One example of such a targeted approach is called “spear phishing,” which is a phishing email that targets a group of people within a specific company or organization, often appearing to be sent from an internal employee in the human relations department, IT department or even a former colleague.

• Viruses Attack Cell Phones and PDAs:  ... Last year, the number of viruses and worms that affected cell phones and PDAs increased substantially.  Mobile device viruses like “Cabir” and “CommWarrior.A,” could read addresses and phone numbers and spread from mobile phones and BlackBerrys through Bluetooth connections and mobile messaging services without the user’s knowledge.

• Hackers Target Online Brokerage Accounts:  In 2005, there were increased reports of hackers using malicious code to crack consumers’ online brokerage accounts. ... Since the nature of online brokerage accounts makes it easy to transfer funds from various accounts outside the firm, online brokerage accounts are attractive targets for hackers and thieves. 

• Internet Crimes Go Unreported:  ... [T]he FBI’s “2005 Small Business Computer Crime Survey” indicated that only 9% of those businesses that experienced a computer security incident reported it to a law enforcement agency.

To seal the deal, you can take the NCSA "How Safe Are You?" quiz (it's like Cosmo for paranoid geeks).  I scored "Fairly Security-Conscious" (as you can see, it's a highly quantitative scoring system), which earned me a brisk admonishment that I need to get my online act together.

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Sleeping Too Well? Read This.

Helping to keep you safe and slumber-free, the Department of Homeland Security and the National Cyber Security Alliance have released their list of top emerging internet threats for 2006.

As it turns out, there's actually relatively little to worry about.  Unless of course you use instant messaging.  Or if you have an online brokerage account.  Or an e-mail account.  Or if you own a cell phone.  Or use the internet.  Or, well...

Emerging Internet Threats for 2006

• Hackers Use Instant Messaging To Spread Viruses and Worms:  ... The Virkel virus opened a backdoor in consumers’ security software, giving hackers access to files and personal information and disabling parts of anti-virus and other security software.  Since consumers are largely unaware of the fact that IM and text message services can be used to spread viruses, they are extremely vulnerable to these types of attacks.

• Phishing Fraud Becomes More Prevalent and Sophisticated:  ...  One example of such a targeted approach is called “spear phishing,” which is a phishing email that targets a group of people within a specific company or organization, often appearing to be sent from an internal employee in the human relations department, IT department or even a former colleague.

• Viruses Attack Cell Phones and PDAs:  ... Last year, the number of viruses and worms that affected cell phones and PDAs increased substantially.  Mobile device viruses like “Cabir” and “CommWarrior.A,” could read addresses and phone numbers and spread from mobile phones and BlackBerrys through Bluetooth connections and mobile messaging services without the user’s knowledge.

• Hackers Target Online Brokerage Accounts:  In 2005, there were increased reports of hackers using malicious code to crack consumers’ online brokerage accounts. ... Since the nature of online brokerage accounts makes it easy to transfer funds from various accounts outside the firm, online brokerage accounts are attractive targets for hackers and thieves. 

• Internet Crimes Go Unreported:  ... [T]he FBI’s “2005 Small Business Computer Crime Survey” indicated that only 9% of those businesses that experienced a computer security incident reported it to a law enforcement agency.

To seal the deal, you can take the NCSA "How Safe Are You?" quiz (it's like Cosmo for paranoid geeks).  I scored "Fairly Security-Conscious" (as you can see, it's a highly quantitative scoring system), which earned me a brisk admonishment that I need to get my online act together.