Zombie PC's are the real problem on the Internet. Is your computer spreading spam emails via a Botnet! |
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Zombie PC's Are The Real Problem. Is My Computer a Zombie? (What is a Zombie?)
Zombie computers are not out of the Resident Evil or Dawn of the Dead movies. Zombie PC’s are computers that have been infected by malicious code that allows spammers to take some control and use them to send emails. It is believed that more than 80 percent of all spam worldwide comes from zombie PCs. What is worse, these computers can be owned by anyone, businesses, universities, government and average users and they don’t even know they have a problem.
Quite often zombie PCs are associated with botnets.
“Botnet is a jargon term for a collection of software robots, or bots, which run autonomously. While the term "botnet" can be used to refer to any group of bots, such as IRC bots, the word is generally used to refer to a collection of compromised machines running programs (usually referred to as worms, Trojan horses, or backdoors) under a common command and control infrastructure. A botnet's originator can control the group remotely, usually through a means such as IRC, and usually for nefarious purposes.”
The term zombie PC refers to one of the PCs in a botnet, though in some cases a zombie PC may not be tied into a botnet.
You can reduce your computer's risk of becoming a zombie PC by installing a personal firewall, installing and frequently updating antivirus software, and keeping performing “Windows Updates” on a frequent basis. There are many free antivirus and firewall tools available on the web if you take the time to search for them.
Sometimes a virus or Trojan horse can install itself and disable your antivirus or firewall applications. Being aware of this, you should make sure that your security applications are still running, by launching them manually. If they do not automatically start on a system reboot or if they will not run when launched manually you are probably infected.
Symptoms of a zombie PC can include a suddenly sluggish internet connection, an unresponsive mouse or keyboard, email bounce notifications to your inbox from people you never tried to contact, excessive hard drive activity and more. If these symptoms occur you may be infected and you should take steps to scan your system. These symptoms do not guarantee that your PC is a zombie but I always say, better save then sorry.
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