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Moumita Bakshi Chatterjee

New Delhi , Feb. 17

In the movie I, Robot, the robotic character ViKi attempts to enable a large army of robots to control and dominate humanity. In the wired world, hackers are increasingly attempting to do the same thing with PCs through the collection of software robots or `bots' that allow the originator to control the targeted PCs remotely for nefarious purposes, including launching virus attacks.

Indian home users could be particularly at high risk, caution IT security experts. "A malware or a malicious software enters a PC (through infected e-mails or downloads) and converts it into a bot or a zombie. By creating a network of 1,000s of bots that work as one entity controlled by the originator, these networks can be used for launching targeted mass attacks on other PCs, including sending spams, spreading virus, or even stealing data," Mr Neeraj Kaushik, Country Head of Trend Micro, said.

The attacks through `bots' are difficult to trace back to the malware creator. The issue assumes significance in India, where the level of piracy is as high as 74 per cent, as per Business Software Alliance's (BSA) estimates. "In most cases, users do not realise that their PCs are being used as bots, unless they have an anti-virus, anti-spyware software installed onto the system. However, in rare situations, a technically qualified professional may detect data being sent out on the network on its own," he said.

Mr Kartik Shahani, Sales Director (India and SAARC), McAfee Inc, the security risk management company, agrees that while enterprises take adequate precautions by regularly updating their anti-virus software, home users are predominantly vulnerable.

"In most cases, the local assembler suggests reformatting of hard disc without addressing the actual issue," Mr Shahani said, adding that users could protect themselves by subscribing to anti-virus packages for about Rs 2,000 per year.

McAfee Inc currently offers two versions of antivirus software for home users, including one where consumers can protect themselves through desktop firewalls and anti-spamware. Trend Micro has a product called PC-cillin that can protect users against viruses, spyware, spam, phishing and other attacks.

More Stories on : Viruses | Security | Software

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