Malware - The Curse of Criminal Fingers

According to the latest reports, there was a huge rise in malware during 2007. Malware, or malicious computer programmes, have been around for a long time, but security companies suggest there was a 500% increase in the number of varients of malicious programmes over the previous year. Who can guess what 2008 will bring. Criminals make 'variants' of malware to try and bypass anti-virus programmes.

AV Test, a software security testing organization, said they had seen 5.49 million unique samples of malicious software in 2007 which is five times more than the 972,606 it saw in 2006. Another firm called Panda Software said the rise represented a 'malware epidemic'.

These programmes are not quite what you and I would call virus's, trojans or spyware and the like, they are used for criminal purposes, and are far more dangerous. Criminals use them to gain access to computers to steal data, financial and personal information, or to access a bank for example, with the intent to steal money. There are also of course the hackers, whose main aim is just to cause mischief.

It is necessary therefore to have a good antivirus programme installed, but according to today's information, the 'epidemic' was caused by criminals who were trying to redesign their software so that it would not be picked up by antivirus programmes. Oops! Food for thought!

What I find so disgusting about the whole affair is how seldom they are caught, and when they are, they get hired by some software company instead of going to jail. These people are without doubt the 'Super-geeks' of the computer world, but dammit, they commit crimes and make the lives of ordinary people miserable. For that they should be punished - severly!

It would seem the law makers only want to punish these people if they break into government computers. What about the rest of us?

There is currently a computer hacker in the U.K. awaiting extradition to the USA for breaking into, among others, US Defence Department computers. He is doing everything he can to avoid the extradition, even going to the Court of Human Rights in The Hague. I hope they turn him down. If convicted in the States he faces 25 years behind bars. But there again, it was government computer systems he hacked into.

If you or I end up being hacked or get a virus, we spend a lot of time getting our computer cleaned up and Windows reloaded, and who knows what data we have lost, and what it has all cost, but no-one gets 'done' for it.

I think I have a solution however. If these people are caught the law should consider amputating their fingers. Have you ever tried typing with your nose or tongue?

May your Windows always be clean!

Roy.