Available attack tools reduce the skill level needed to mount attacks, thereby increasing their number. Because attacks are frequently more random than targeted, the odds of escaping attack simply through obscurity are decreasing. They can also engage in social engineering, dumpster dive for information about an organization's computers and its users' accounts, and review posts in newsgroups and security mailing lists for details such as configuration errors and the location of firewalls. By overloading a network with requests, hackers can cause the network to crash or become unable to respond to legitimate requests. Viruses - Viruses are not usually targeted attacks, although they can be.
Some viruses are also worms, sending themselves to all users in an address book.
Some recent viruses also include Trojans, which replace valid programs with back doors through which attackers can steal files and passwords. CTR's new report also details how companies can determine whether an intrusion has occurred and how to stop these attacks. Additional Information Copyright 2001 INT Media Group, Incorporated All Rights Reserved.