Computer Virus Crashes San Diego Court Computers

A computer virus infected San Diego Superior Court computers, forcing employees to work manually and causing some public service delays, court officials said Thursday.

The virus was discovered Monday after reports of unusual desktop behavior.

Employees reported that computers were repeatedly restarting or freezing, and that they could not get some applications to work.

To keep the virus from spreading, courthouse computers were taken off the county and state computer network, forcing court personnel to revert to paper files.

Employees are also having difficulty accessing information such as court dates and case information, said Superior Court spokeswoman Karen Dalton.

Court officials asked the public for patience and urged those who need information to have their court-issued paperwork, courtesy notices or tickets with them when they come to court.

Information technology personnel and outside vendors are working to get rid of the virus, but it was unknown when the court computers will be back online, Dalton said.

Security needed to help battle botnet viruses

Botnet scams are often misunderstood as a virus, however, they exist in a computer without the user being aware their machine in compromised.

Botnet scams are often misunderstood as a virus, however, they exist in a computer without the user being aware their machine in compromised.

According to the article “Botnet Scams are Exploding” by Byron Acohido and Jon Swartz in USA Today on March 17, botnets are largely unknown by the public.

"Botnet is a term used to describe a collection of compromised computer systems that are working together for some common, usually nefarious goal," said Curtis Larsen, assistant professor of computer science.

In the article, Rick Wesson, CEO of Support Intelligence, explained that 30 percent of the 800 million computers connected to the Internet are bots taking part in spreading e-mail spam, stealing data from shopping and banking Web sites, and bombarding Web sites in a "denial of service" attack.

A denial of service attack uses mass amounts of bots to flood a certain Web site. All of this intensive traffic can cause a Web site to crash. This is a serious threat to large corporations' Web sites.

An example of phishing students may relate to takes place on MySpace. When clicking on an illegitimate advertisement, the user is redirected to a Web page that looks like the user has accidentally logged off. The user is tricked into entering his or her log on name and password. Now the hacker has total control of the account. Typically the hacker will post advertisements in the form of comments and bulletins, and the user's network of friends has no way of knowing the original user didn't actually post them. Also, the hacker has the user's e-mail address, and if the user uses the same password for his or her e-mail, it can be violated as well.

Users may not even be aware they are in the botnet network. Larsen said a compromised computer may exhibit symptoms similar to other virus compromises. He said the computer becomes unusually slow to respond or responds unreliably.

The botnet is not a virus. However, viruses can easily take advantage of machines that are a botnet.

"Hackers break into a machine, then install a code, which runs a botnet," said Chris Mosteller, campus systems administrator at DSC.

Luckily, anti-virus programs can detect botnets. Set up scheduled virus scans to occur automatically.

"The bottom line is, the program is running on your machine and you can't control it," Mosteller said.

According to www.fbi.gov, the FBI launched Operation Bot Roast last year. Operation Bot Roast was launched because national security implications of the growing botnet threat are broad.

According to the Web site, hackers may use the computers themselves or they may rent out their botnets for a charge. The more computers they control, the more they charge their clients.

Instead of being invaded by a botnet, prevent it from happening in the first place. Mosteller said to keep the computer patched. This means updating the computer on a regular basis, and downloading security updates and service packs. Most operating systems prompt the user when there are new updates available.

"I recommend checking more than one source when trying to determine if a computer has unusual network traffic," Larsen said.

Larsen suggested monitoring network connections and network traffic rates. For Windows, the user can use the netstat command from the command prompt to monitor open connections and volume. Larsen said users can also download TCPView to help find unusual network connections. Other prevention strategies include e-mail filtering, staying away from untrusted Web sites, activating the port filter on the DSL or cable modem, and not downloading software from untrusted locations.

Source : sun.dixie.edu/index.php?pg=story&storyid=3149

Linux without virus

OKaY! So you’re sick of the old computer and want a new one. You have it all figured out a nice processor with a lot of RAM, an elegant TFT screen and of course, a huge hard drive to store all your ‘stuff’.

You go to the store, give your specifications, browse the models and the options for operating systems.

Going all legal is an expensive proposition. Windows itself costs a great deal of money and once you add on an office package, anti virus software and a firewall (with paid renewal every year), you realise that you haven’t really budgeted for all of it.

What if you could find a way to keep software costs down and spend your money on hardware and that sleek 22 inch TFT monitor?

Ubuntu joy

Enter open source. Many years ago, Bruce Perens published the ‘Open Source Definition’, outlining a philosophy of software development that gave anybody the right to possess, install, redistribute and re-engineer software free of charge.

Ubuntu, tagged ‘Linux for human beings’, is becoming popular among home users. You can order a free Ubuntu installation CD with free shipping at www.ubuntu.com (Yes! You will not be charged even for shipping.)

Installing Ubuntu is simple. Its installation, by default, includes the Mozilla Firefox web-browser and Pidgin, an instant messaging client that lets you use Yahoo, MSN AIM and GoogleTalk in a single window.

The package comes with OpenOffice, with a word processor, a spreadsheet and a database programme and a presentation tool. Evolution Mail, an Email programme is also a part of the default package.

No virus!

You do not need an anti virus package because most computer viruses are designed to attack Windows computers.

Once the initial install is done, your computer can connect to the Internet and download all the updates.

In case there is any hardware on your system that you don’t have drivers for, Ubuntu will download them automatically.

Your Internet enabled Ubuntu computer will be able to connect to a global repository of over 20,000 Linux applications from where you could download and install any programme you like, absolutely free of cost.

The add-ons

Playing MP3s and movies require some additional work. You will have to install the MP3 codec via Synaptic Package Manager. Media players like VLC and Totem that play all video and audio types can be performed via the Package Manager without having to visit any product websites.

There is a programme called WINE (www.winehq.com) that allows you to use windows programs on Linux. This works well with Microsoft Office and some games, but other programmes may not perform as expected. If downloading is your thing, Azureus and Limewire are available for Linux.

One of the advantages of being on Ubuntu is the vast support network available.

There are thousands of pages of information out there on virtually every problem that you can encounter.

Volunteers offering help will be patient with you if they know that you are a total newbie.

Make it a point to join one of the discussion groups and put your questions to the more experienced users.

Teething trouble

So, Ubuntu is free, all the applications are free, you don’t have to worry about virus, hey, that’s like having a supermodel girlfriend who is a cordon bleu chef and has a PhD in particle physics, right? Not quite.

Ubuntu comes with some constraints. A majority of the world’s computers run or Windows or a related platform. Many business applications do not have a Linux version simply because it will not be worth anybody’s time to produce.

Also, the idea of paying for software goes against the essence of Linux and Open Sources.

If you’re looking for a computer that you can use to surf the Internet, check Email, chat, listen to music and watch videos, Ubuntu is for you.