Quote:Anything is possible, but this wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for them to pull something like this off.  Today it's the NYSE, UAL, and WSJ.  Tomorrow it's the power grid, air traffic control, and water treatment facilities.  We're vulnerable.

 

On that I most certainly agree.  However, if any of your listed functions were attacked, I would suspect Russia before I suspected North Korea.  I'm willing to bet that the majority of the very users of this message board use "virus protection" that is actually written by Russian programmers.

 

In my opinion, "anti-virus" software is an un-needed thing that many have come to use.  If anyone thinks that their "anti-virus" software or "anti-malware" software actually does anything, they are sadly mistaken.  While yes, it may protect you from known viruses out on the internet, there is really no protection from zero days.  Some "anti-virus" software attempts to detect this, but it's pretty much a futile attempt.

 

What the biggest vulnerability is, is the fact that most people use their computer with Administrative privileges.  An attack can take place through email (a common tactic) but it can also be launched by simply visiting a web site or clicking on a link.  Once an attacker has Administrative privileges on a machine, then it's toast.  I've seen how easy it is for people to fall for this, and I've seen many attempts for it to happen to me.

 

That's why Macs and Linux machines are less likely to be infected by a virus.  With my limited exposure to Macs, it's pretty much a Unix type system that restricts a user from performing tasks that requires verification to elevate privileges in order to do something.  Linux does the same thing, but the "popular" distributions are making things more "transparent" and they are falling into the same trap that most Windows users are in.

 

I would bet that most users of this very message board are probably Windows users.  I would also bet that most of them access this board on an account on their systems that has administrative privilege.  I would also bet that they most of them have some kind of "anti-virus" software.

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