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Poland Now Third Worst Spam Relayer As Polish People Ignore Computer Security
Warsaw, Poland April 13, 2007 Poland has moved into third place in the rankings of spam relaying. Because the Polish people have not paid attention to computer security, the vast majority of the spam relaying is done by "zombies," also known as botnet computers, hijacked by Trojan horses, worms and viruses under the control of hackers.
But the United States and China still outrank Poland. And spam is being relayed from computers all over the world. Computer Security firm Sophos has noted that spam is even being relayed from the Vatican and Antarctica.
The problem lies with the home user and his lack of attention to computer security. "The likely reality is that (relayed spam) will not drop unless home users take action to secure their computers and put a halt to the zombie PC problem," said Brett Myroff, of Sophos.
Most people do not understand that one needs to do more than simply have an anti-virus program on a computer. Spam messages containing embedded images, instead of text, are able to avoid detection by some antispam filters that rely on the analysis of textual spam content.
One must use a properly configured firewall and run spyware deletion programs to ensure that one's computer is not a zombie.
Sophos recommends that computer users ensure that they keep their security software up to date, as well as using a properly configured firewall and installing the latest operating system security patches. Businesses must also look to implement a best-practice policy regarding e-mail account usage.
Hackers are creative and persitant. Any security patch and security system update gets to you AFTER a hacker has been successfully taking control of computers. So you are always in danger and must take as many precaustions as possible.
Another thing many people don't know is that some spyware will disable your security system. The hacker first gets spyware on your computer to disable your security system and then makes it a zombie.
So even though you think that you are safe, your security system may have been disabled.
As a final note of caution, always remember that hackers want to add spyware to your computer to steal your credit card data.
Regardless of what security system you have, you should continually check for spyware.
See Also
Free Spyware Check And Removal And About Spyware
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