The development of the Internet has gone hand-in-hand with the development of innovative communication technologies that revolutionize and modernize our day-to-day private and business lives.
The development of the Internet has also spawned a new tool with which certain types of people scrutinize and test the security mechanisms of an information system or network.
The motivations of hackers and virus authors vary: money, revenge, notoriety or simply malice. Since the tools for creating malicious codes are almost universally accessible, years of experience are apparently no longer a prerequisite for programming destructive computer viruses.
Over 30,000 how-to-hack websites can now be found on the Internet, for example. Far more dangerous, however, are copycats who modify successful viruses (which often carry no malicious code but are intended only to demonstrate a potential for damage - motivation: notoriety) to make them destructive.
So-called hackers have years of experience developing sophisticated robot hacker tools. The current focus is on developing new malware that can circumvent the security measures of IT administrators. Ninety-nine percent of hacker attacks exploit known network vulnerabilities and faulty system configurations.
How You Can Minimize Your Risk:
* Run regular updates of your operating system.
* Protect your PC or network with a firewall.
* Install antivirus software, and update it regularly.
