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Oracle Tips by Burleson |
Web Stalkers
Chapter 12 - Virus Attacks
Viruses: Who’s Behind Them
For example, some online merchants have
reported their online shopping carts stolen. These are the secure
areas of a website where customers’ information, including credit
card numbers, are kept. A crook who absconds with such a shopping
cart is in possession of a very valuable commodity. They will have
no problem finding a buyer for the information.
Still others try to create viruses that defeat
the security measures of as many computers as possible, making
unauthorized access very easy. A listing of these compromised
machines is then compiled, and sold to other crooks looking for easy
targets.
The last category of virus creators covered in
this chapter, are not really virus creators at all; at least, not
intentionally. In fact, these kinds of viruses are better
categorized as bugs. They are mistakes in the programming of
legitimate software that may cause a program to behave in a
virus-like manner. For example, suppose the author of a piece of
software wants to be informed by email every time someone installs a
copy of it on their machine; however, as the result of a programming
error an e-mail is sent to everyone in a user’s address book,
informing them that they have installed this new piece of software.
While there is no criminal intent, the results can be an
inconvenience.
Regardless of the motive for creating viruses,
it is good to know that there are effective defenses against them.
In the next section of this chapter, guidance will be presented on
what one can do to stay ahead of the bad guys.
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