Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi there,
There is an issue with role permissions that is being worked on at the moment.
If you are having trouble with access or permissions on regional forums please post here to get access: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058365403/you-do-not-have-permission-for-that#latest

How often are you guys attacked?

  • 03-10-2003 12:59am
    #1
    Blitzkrieger
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,660 ✭✭✭


    I just checked my email after about a week (v busy at work) and got no less than 4 from people I don't know with a virus attached. I seem to be getting lots lately. I never know if I should reply and say 'get a virus checker you muppet' or if it's a deliberate amaturish attack. Is the growing population of clueless noobs contributing to a larger spread of viri, or are there more script kiddies trying to piss everyone off? How many dodgy emails would be average?


Comments

  • #2
    dahamsta
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 16,659 ✭✭✭✭dahamsta


    I just checked my email after about a week (v busy at work) and got no less than 4 from people I don't know with a virus attached. I seem to be getting lots lately.

    They're indirect attacks, via worms like Sobig. You mightn't know the people they appear to be coming from, but it's quite likely you know the people whose computers they're coming from, since your email was probably in their address book; which is where, amongst other places, worms like Sobig get their bounty.

    I never know if I should reply and say 'get a virus checker you muppet' or if it's a deliberate amaturish attack.

    They're amateurs, but not that way. And in most cases it's not worth replying, since it's quite possible you'll be larting someone whose only crime is being another person in the amateur's address book.

    Is the growing population of clueless noobs contributing to a larger spread of viri, or are there more script kiddies trying to piss everyone off?

    Both I guess, the kidiots are always tooling around with other people's code, and the underlying problem in most case is people's inability to keep their software up to date. That being said, there seems to be some concern that Sobig, for example, is a little more sinister than many other worms. Whether there's any truth in that I don't know, it could be just idle speculation.

    How many dodgy emails would be average?

    I don't get average amounts of email, so I have no idea. I trap about a hundred viruses and the like a day, but I trap centrally for a few customers. When Sobig.F was in it's prime, I think I pulled about 12,000 instances (over a month). Worms like Sobig really depend on how widespread your email address is.

    adam


  • #3
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 92,986 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    I would not consider bulk emails to be attacks in the personal sense.

    If you get a firewall (eg zonealarm) you can check what is trying to come in.
    You should see your ISP's DNS server knocking on port 53

    At one point recently 70% of all emails were a particular virus (and depending on who you believe 50% of the rest of email is spam).

    Had an account for collecting spam set to dead addresses - hit 15,956 a few weeks back...

    And as dahamsta said much of it is done by scripts ( I hold M$ responsible for the vast majority of that particular species ) and almost all email viruses fake the header by choosing other names from the victims address book or mail store..


Advertisement