Computer Viruses Attacks Have Become More Prevalent These Days, And May Cause Massive Failures

Computer viruses attacks have become more extensive these days, resulting in massive failures and disruptions because motive of attacks is often to disrupt operation. Viruses may multiply in the computers machines storage area, memory or network.

Nainamo city,s (Canada) Director of Information Technology, Per Kristensen stated recently that a new type of the Qakbot virus appeared globally on March 15, 2011 and was observed in PCs in Nanaimo on March 16, 2011. The system was immediately put on a halt to safeguard important information about the city after the staff realized that the virus was swiftly circulating from PC to PC.

Commenting on the matter, Per stated that, safeguarding their private information is their main concern, and people can be sure that all their personal information and details are safe. He also stated that the city's system would not be turned on until they are sure that they sorted out the problem. The virus, which is classified as harmful, seems extremely complex, altering its signature to transfer through a computer many times. According to Per, the anti-virus firms were not able to recognize it but and as soon as they got to know that, something got through their security software, they shut down their system.

The city hall computer network of Pekin, Illinois, has been down the majority of the week as result of two separate virus incidents, city officials say. Most city employees cant access email or the document file system, or update the website. Two viruses attacked the computers and IT staff shut down the servers, Interim City Manager Frank Mackaman said.

Mackaman said the virus attacks and resulting precautionary measures virtually paralyzed the city for the much of the week. In terms of the cause of this, IT says theyre in the treatment phase, not the diagnosis phase, Mackaman said. The only thing that they can definitely rule out is that the virus was not introduced by email.

Head of Iran's civilian defence, also said a computer virus called Stuxnet attacked Iran's atomic program. Gholamreza Jalali claimed it was the work of its two biggest foes and that the German company must take some of the blame. The Iranian military commander has accused German engineering company Siemens of helping the United States and Israel launch a cyber attack on its nuclear facilities. Iran has given few details of the impact of the virus. It said in September that staff computers at the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power station had been hit, but that the plant itself was unharmed.

Mr. Jalali said Iran should hold Siemens responsible for the fact that its control systems used to operate complicated factory machinery -known as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) -had been hit by the worm. "Our executive officials should legally follow up the case of Siemens SCADA software, which prepared the ground for the Stuxnet virus," he said. Some foreign experts have described Stuxnet as a "guided cyber missile" aimed at Iran's atomic program.

These report findings clearly points out that computer virus attacks are very common these days. One proven way to mitigate information security risks is through technical security training that will enhance the skills proficiency of the cyber security workforce. EC-Councils brand new TakeDownCon is a technical information security conference series that serves as a platform for IT security professionals to discuss and exchange views on the latest information security threats as well as remediation strategies. In addition to learning from some of the best security experts, TakeDownCon also offers highly sought after technical training courses, including the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) course, often touted as the worlds most comprehensive ethical hacking training program.

The CEH Program certifies individuals in the specific network security discipline of Ethical Hacking from a vendor-neutral perspective. The Certified Ethical Hacker certification will fortify the application knowledge of security officers, auditors, security professionals, site administrators, and anyone who is concerned about the integrity of the network infrastructure. A Certified Ethical Hacker is a skilled professional who understands and knows how to look for the weaknesses and vulnerabilities in target systems and uses the same knowledge and tools as a malicious hacker.