Get Your Dirty Hands Off My Network!; Computer Hijackings On The Rise
Symantec estimates that computer hijackings have risen 30% in the last year. Crackers hijack computers in order to send out spam e-mails, viruses, and other malicious software and according to further studies from Symantec, more then a third of attacks in the second half of 2006 originated from within the United States. While the number of hijackings continues to increase, research indicates that the number of servers controlling 'bot networks' is decreasing. According to Symantec, bot network owners are beginning to consolidate servers in order to create a more centralized center for deploying malicious software.
The number of computers hijacked by malicious hackers to send out spam and viruses has grown almost 30% in the last year, according to a survey. More than six million computers world wide are now part of a "bot network", reported security firm Symantec. Computer users typically do not know that their PC has been hijacked. More than a third of all computer attacks in the second half of 2006 originated from PCs in the United States, the threat report said. While the total number of bot-net PCs rose, the number of servers controlling them dropped by about 25% to 4,700, the twice-yearly report said.
