C
chas_m
Guest
Show him this:
Microsoft says cybercrime bust frees 4.7 million infected PCs | Reuters
Key quote: ""Those victims are currently not aware they are infected."
This is the bigger problem, and this is the reason why its become a multi-billion dollar industry: the victims don't think they have a problem (and consequently don't do anything about it), but the harm these "zombie PCs" do is enormous.
4.7 million infected PCs may not sound like a lot, but this is half of the number of units that were infected ahead of Microsoft's seizure of No-IP domains temporarily last week, and this is just the machines infected through one network (and only some very specific malware).
The problem exists on easily an order of magnitude more computers than the ones MS is trying to go after at the moment.
Bottom line: Windows users may think they've been lucky, but in fact they probably haven't been. Sadly there's no Windows-based anti-malware software that even claims to catch everything, so there's little -- other than using the best one they can find -- that ordinary Windows users can do to help protect not just themselves, but everyone else on the Internet. One thing Windows users should consider is taking older machines that are no longer updated offline. It would really help.
Microsoft says cybercrime bust frees 4.7 million infected PCs | Reuters
Key quote: ""Those victims are currently not aware they are infected."
This is the bigger problem, and this is the reason why its become a multi-billion dollar industry: the victims don't think they have a problem (and consequently don't do anything about it), but the harm these "zombie PCs" do is enormous.
4.7 million infected PCs may not sound like a lot, but this is half of the number of units that were infected ahead of Microsoft's seizure of No-IP domains temporarily last week, and this is just the machines infected through one network (and only some very specific malware).
The problem exists on easily an order of magnitude more computers than the ones MS is trying to go after at the moment.
Bottom line: Windows users may think they've been lucky, but in fact they probably haven't been. Sadly there's no Windows-based anti-malware software that even claims to catch everything, so there's little -- other than using the best one they can find -- that ordinary Windows users can do to help protect not just themselves, but everyone else on the Internet. One thing Windows users should consider is taking older machines that are no longer updated offline. It would really help.