One thing is sure, bots are taking over more PCs than ever--infecting more networks and gaining ground. But just how deep the infection is for federal government networks is currently the focus of a research effort. Trend Micro, a security vendor, says at least 7,000 government desktops have been compromised by bots that are using the machines for malicious purposes. The infected PCs can then be used for denial of service attacks and spam loads--not to mention that all these computers also allow unauthorized users access to their files. Yet as some federal government agency tech leaders and other experts note, the issue isn't as dire as Trend Micro initially reported.
For more on the federal bot invasion:
- check out this InformationWeek article [1]
- Previous bot attacks thwarted. Article [2]
Links:
[1] http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=0GC22ZT4D5TTUQSNDLOSKHSCJUNN2JVN?articleID=193104896
[2] http://www.fiercecio.com/story/reputed-bot-fizzles-out/2006-08-15