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'Hacker war' leads to a rash of viruses

UH analyst warns the best solution is preventative action

by Portia-Elaine Gant
Senior Staff Writer

With worms and e-mail viruses circulating rapidly throughout the nation, computers today have an unparalleled rate of infection. Although virus protection software from McAfee and Norton was once sufficient, adding daily updates and firewalls still leaves one's computer open for attack.

"There is a hacker war going on, which is why we have all these Bagel viruses," Technology Support Systems analyst Gary Chelette said. "The problem is getting worse and worse. Unless I keep (my computer) updated every day, a virus scan will do no good."

At one point, viruses could only be transmitted through floppy disks, but now, simply connecting to the Internet leaves a computer susceptible to harm.

"Just by clicking on the computer, you can be bombarded with everything out there, if you don't have protection, in less than 30 seconds," Chelette said.

The increase in viruses can be partially attributed to a change in motive, Chelette said.

"Viruses used to be about bragging rights. It was just for fun," he said. "Now companies are saying, 'I will pay you for every machine you infect.'"

Many computer users have trial versions of virus scan software, but Chelette said some don't update it after the trial period ends. He checked a Daily Cougar reporter's laptop computer and found that the computer, which had been running slow, had been corrupted by viruses.

"You don't own this computer anymore," Chelette said. "The hackers do."

Stinger, a stand alone anti-virus program designed to check for 39 of the 81 known viruses, trojans and variants, found only two viruses on the computer, and Spybot found almost 20 forms of adware and spyware carrying information about the computer usage to Web site owners. Windows, which offers updates frequently, showed that the computer needed 16 critical updates and services, something Chelette placed at the top of the list.

Among the spyware on the computer was Gator, a program Chelette said tracks all computer usage. He called it "one of the worst viruses in the world."

Programs like Common Hijacker, DoubleClick, HitBox, WildTanget and even SexHit were transmitting information from the computer and generating an innumerable amount of advertisements without having requested permission. However, a McAfee firewall had helped ward off seriously damaging programs, which Chelette said was "just lucky."

Even after downloading and installing McAfee's anti-virus software -- which is available free to UH users from www.uh.edu/infotech -- daily updates of Spybot and McAfee patches are recommended. Chelette recommended that all users run them before each use.

He also said leaving computers on when they are not in use provides a common open door for viruses.

"If you're leaving it on, and you're not using it, I guarantee someone else is," Chelette said.
 

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