WHILE swimming in the endless sea of news, blogs, social networks and mindless ballyhoo - one has to wonder how to make it stop.

The internet seems to be all-powerful and indestructible - but in theory it can be destroyed in a number of outlandish ways. check out how could you do that ...

1. Cut the cables

To destroy the internet, a strategic starting point would be to destroy the undersea cables that connect every continent.

You could use submarines with giant scissors - but the cables are not that difficult to destroy. Earthquakes, fishing trawlers and shark bites have been known to cause breaks.

2. Cyber war

Cyberspace could become the battlefield of choice for countries wishing to gain the upper hand in an international arena.

Nations could deploy armies of hackers instead of armed military forces to disrupt communications, launch unstoppable viruses and take out sections of the internet. When two superpowers go to cyberwar, the cost will not be in blood, but in 404's.

3. Subvert DNS

Security researcher Dan Kaminsky last year stumbled across a vulnerability in the Domain Name System (DNS) that had the potential to destroy the internet's foundations.

The security flaw allowed hackers to potentially reroute users to any website or block access.

According to Securosis analyst Rich Mogull: "You'd have the internet, but it wouldn't be the internet you expect. (Hackers) would control everything."

4. Eliminate the hardware

Destroying the hardware that allows internet access would be improbable, but not impossible.

This would mean that every single online communications system would have to go down.

One way would be disabling electronics with an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) within a 10km radius. It's not effective on a worldwide scale, but if the idea can be manipulated for a global EMP then it might be feasible

5. Censorship

Both the internet and the World Wide Web were designed as open forums for free ideas and expression, but countries have pushed to censor objectionable materials.

Countries such as China have implemented strong censorship in an attempt to neutralize political opposition. This is dubbed "The Great Firewall of China".

Although censoring the internet only affects parts of the global community, it destroys the idea on which the network was created

6. Botnets

A botnet is the name given to a collection of infected computers (or "zombies") that automatically distribute malicious software, viruses, spam and trojans in an attempt to infect other computers.

The Conficker worm came from a particularly nasty botnet estimated to have burrowed its way into almost nine million computers worldwide. It had the potential of producing 10 billion articles of spam per day

7. Spam

Spam is an inevitable consequence of the internet with advertisers, marketers and Nigerian scams all trying to exploit users.

Spammers all over the world use thousands of zombie computers and in 2007, SophosLabs found that over a quarter of the world's spam originated in the US.

Not only is spam incredibly annoying, it may be used to transmit viruses, trojans and malicious software with the intent of corrupting more computers, turning them into zombies

8. Unstoppable virus

Similar to the scenes in Terminator 3, a self-replicating computer virus with the potential to distribute itself globally and become invulnerable to destruction may not only spell the end of the internet, but the end of humanity

9. Hack the servers

Internet service providers (ISPs) link customers to the world wide web. If they were taken down systematically, many people would lose online access.

This would essentially starve the web of users, content and traffic..

10. Switch off

Switching off means that if everyone connected to a system that accesses the world wide web turns off, it would become a barren wasteland of unclicked hyperlinks and unwatched videos.

So instead of viewing technology galleries you might actually be doing your work

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Actress Jessica Biel has overtaken Brad Pitt as the most dangerous celebrity to search in cyberspace, according to Internet security company McAfee Inc.

For the third consecutive year, McAfee surveyed which A-list celebrity was the riskiest to track on the Internet after Pitt topped the list last year and Paris Hilton came in first in 2007.

Biel, 27, who shot to fame in the TV show “7th Heaven” and most recently starred in “Easy Virtue,” was deemed the most dangerous, with fans having a one-in-five chance of landing at a website that has tested positive for online threats, such as spyware, adware, spam, phishing, and viruses.

“Cybercriminals are star watchers too — they latch onto popular celebrities to encourage the download of malicious software in disguise,” McAfee’s Jeff Green said in a statement.

“Consumers’ obsession with celebrity news and culture is harmless in theory, but one bad download can cause a lot of damage to a computer.”

“Every day, cybercriminals use celebrities’ names and images, like Kim Kardashian and Rihanna, to lure surfers searching for the latest stories, screen savers and ringtones to sites offering free downloads laden with malware,” the statement added.

Coming second in the list for the second year running was pop star Beyonce, with McAfee finding that putting “Beyonce ringtones” into a search engine yielded a dangerous website linking to a distributor of adware and spyware.

Actress Jennifer Aniston was third, with more than 40 percent of the Google search results for “Jennifer Aniston screensavers” containing nasty viruses.

Young Hollywood stars Miley Cyrus, Ashley Tisdale and Lindsay Lohan all edged out Heidi Montag and Jessica Alba who appeared on last year’s list.

They also ranked higher than other young personalities including “Twilight” stars Robert Pattinson who came 30th and Kristen Stewart who was 20th, the Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift, Lauren Conrad, Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron.

Megan Fox and Angelina Jolie tied as the eighth most dangerous celebrities on the Web while newlyweds Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen came in fourth and sixth respectively.

However, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, who have featured on most celebrities list this year, were not at the top of risky public figures to search.

The Obamas ranked in the bottom-third of this year’s results, at No. 34 and No. 39 respectively.

Brad Pitt came 10th in the list this year.

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Everywhere you turn nowadays you’re bound to be flooded with news and updates surrounding the swine flu epidemic. 13above is not an exception but our news regarding the issue is much more colorful and is about the masks people wear to be protected.

 

Many of them have reacted to the threat with humour and creativity ! Check out more pics on Creative anti-flu masks after the jump.

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Health organizations worldwide are struggling to contain a swine flu outbreak that has killed at least 149 people in Mexico and sickened many more throughout the world, including in the United States, Europe and New Zealand. U.S. cases have now been reported across the country, with victims in California, Kansas, New York, Ohio and Texas.
Flu was first found among pigs in 1930. Over subsequent decades, health experts have identified influenza viruses in several other species as well. But which animals can pass such viruses on to people? You might be surprised by our top 10 list.

1. Chicken

Avian flu may not be the headline-maker now, but it has caused hundreds of human deaths over just the past decade, with chickens being the most common source of contagion.

"Many birds are susceptible to influenza strains that may transmit to humans, but butchering, handling and other forms of close contact heighten the risk," April Johnson told Discovery News. Johnson is an assistant professor of epidemiology and public health in the Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine's Department of Comparative Pathobiology. "The H5N1 avian virus continues to be of concern because 60 percent of all humans who have contracted this illness died after becoming infected."

2. Pig

Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has long warned that "pigs play a role in transmitting influenza virus to humans." Earlier reported cases, however, mostly involved agricultural workers, or others who were in close direct contact with pigs. A child on a communal farm in Canada, for example, came down with the swine flu in 2006.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been monitoring swine flu for some time as well, since pigs can be infected with human and avian viruses, in addition to their own pig-specific germs.

If an infection of more than one virus occurs simultaneously, "recombination may occur," Jean-Pierre Vaillancourt, a professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Montreal, told Discovery News. He explained that the latest strain appears to consist of "a virus that's 80 percent swine, with the rest being a mixture of avian and human viruses."

Although world leaders, such as President Barack Obama, are urging "concern" and not alarm over the outbreak, the potential for pandemic exists, experts have informed Discovery News, since the disease is now spreading from person to person.

3. Duck

Ducks are often raised for their meat, especially in Asia. Health experts, therefore, often monitor duck illnesses in China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam and other Asian countries that have experienced avian flu outbreaks.

"Ducks are more considered as carriers, however, than as direct threats," said Johnson, who explained that ducks seem less likely to spread influenza to humans, but that they can infect other animals. Researchers in Mexico have not ruled out the possibility that a bird, such as a chicken or duck, was the original source of the latest outbreak, which could have jumped to pigs and then humans.

4. Goose

Both wild and domestic geese have been known to contract the infamous H5N1 virus.

The birds' broad ranges can pose a problem: "These birds can fly 1,000 miles a day at maximum," explained Yi Guan, of the University of Hong Kong, China. If geese raised for poultry come into contact with infected wild geese, the risk of influenza spreading to humans increases. Most cases involving geese began with poultry workers in Asian countries who had direct contact with sick or dead birds.

5. Turkey

While not all birds can catch the flu, most are susceptible to Type A influenza that may spread to humans. Turkeys are no exception. Earlier this year, in fact, an H5 avian influenza virus surfaced on a turkey farm in southern British Columbia. It was quickly contained. Nevertheless, tens of thousands of turkeys have been slaughtered in Canada and elsewhere when such infections have been identified.

In 2004, for example, British Columbia's Fraser River Valley experienced an outbreak that affected 40 commercial farms and led to the culling of 17 million birds, according to the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.

Suppliers maintain rigid guidelines to ensure public safety. "We often criticize factory farms, but in this case modern production has helped to reduce direct contact with animals, thus staving off infections," Vaillancourt told Discovery News. "In Asia and Mexico, many families live with their poultry and other animals raised for food, so they remain in close proximity to them."

6. Horse

According to the CDC, horses too can become infected with Type A influenza viruses.

"People with horses must handle them a lot, particularly around the facial area," said Marie Gramer, an assistant clinical professor of veterinary population medicine at the University of Minnesota's College of Veterinary Medicine. "When horses suffer from an influenza virus, they can cough, sneeze and have a runny nose just like we do."

"What's coughed out," she added, is of less risk to humans than avian germs, "because most pathogens that infect horses become more species-specific."

7. Dog

In 2004, cases of an unknown respiratory illness in dogs, initially racing greyhounds, were reported to the CDC. An investigation showed that this respiratory illness was caused by the equine influenza A H3N8 virus.

Scientists believe that this virus jumped from horses to dogs, and can now spread from dog to dog, leading to the canine-specific H3N8 virus. Experts consider the strain to be "a newly emerging pathogen in the dog population."

If it jumped from horses to dogs, could it move from dogs to humans?

"It's possible, but it would need a perfect storm," Gramer said. "The moment of transfer would have to involve the right person, the right place, the right animal and the right time."

8. Cat

Cats, like dogs, enjoy close contact with people. While most experts believe that simple hand-washing can eliminate the risk of obtaining diseases from pets, there is a possibility that both dogs and cats could spread a recombined form of avian influenza to humans.

"Cases of tigers and domesticated cats coming down with avian flu have been reported overseas," Johnson told Discovery News. "In most, if not all, cases, I believe, the animals had consumed dead infected chickens or other birds." The easiest way to stave off such risks would be to monitor pets so they don't eat birds or any other wild, potentially infected prey.

9. Seal

While no "seal flu" has been known to spread to humans, the marine mammals can become infected with Type A influenza viruses. And Vaillancourt said other diseases have crossed the human-seal species line.

"Some populations consisting of people who eat raw seal meat have been diagnosed with toxic parasitic illnesses," he said. "We've done studies that show cooking reduces nearly all of this problem."

10. Whale

Could a whale flu be in our future? Whales can suffer from influenza, probably by catching germs spread by bird waste. In theory, people could be exposed to and infected by the virus if they came in close contact with infected whales or poorly cooked whale meat. But the risk of that happening, not surprisingly, is low.

"It's really unlikely, because the ocean tends to dilute things," Gramer said. "Again, such a scenario would need a perfect storm since, as it stands, wild waterfowl, like seagulls, poop out the virus, which then has a slim chance of infecting whales."

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ONE of the world's biggest computer worms has activated and is now sending spam from personal computers.

The malicious software known as Conficker is slowly starting weeks after being dismissed as a false alarm, security experts said.

Conficker, also known as Downadup or Kido, is quietly turning thousands of PCs into servers of email spam and installing spyware, they said.

The worm started spreading late last year, infecting millions of computers and turning them into "slaves" that respond to commands sent from a remote machine that controls an army of computers known as a botnet.

Many feared it would wreak havoc on April 1, but instead the worm mutated to make it harder to catch.

Its unidentified creators started using infected machines for criminal purposes in recent weeks by loading more malicious software onto a small percentage of computers under their control, said Vincent Weafer, a vice president with Symantec Security Response.

"Expect this to be long-term, slowly changing," he said. "It's not going to be fast, aggressive."

What the worm does ?

Conficker installs a second virus, known as Waledac, that sends out email spam without knowledge of the PC's owner, Mr Weafer said.

It also installs a fake anti-spyware program so users would be led to believe their computer's safe.

"This is probably one of the most sophisticated botnets on the planet. The guys behind this are very professional. They absolutely know what they are doing," said Paul Ferguson, a senior researcher with Trend Micro.

He said Conficker's authors likely installed a spam engine and another malicious software program on tens of thousands of computers since April 7. The worm will stop distributing the software on infected PCs on May 3 but more attacks will likely follow.

"We expect to see a different component or a whole new twist to the way this botnet does business," said Mr Ferguson.

Viruses that turn PCs into slaves exploit weaknesses in Microsoft's Windows operating system. The Conficker worm is especially tricky because it can evade corporate firewalls by passing from an infected machine onto a USB memory stick, then onto another PC.

The Conficker botnet is one of many such networks controlled by syndicates that authorities believe are based in eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, China and Latin America.

What you can do ? 

First of all, make sure your PC has the latest patch from Microsoft and update your security software. If you cannot access your anti-virus maker's website, your PC may already be infected.

In general, you should always be careful when clicking on unknown links. Use LinkScanner to find out if a link leads to dangerous content, and be wary of pop-up windows prompting you to install software such as antivirus or video player updates.

You may also read the US Department of Homeland Security's recommendations at www.dhs.gov, or find out more on Wikipedia

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SOME 10 million computers infected by the mysterious Conficker worm are waking up and "calling home" as instructed by an unknown master controller who used April Fool's Day as the trigger.

Australia's computer response team, AusCERT, was on high alert yesterday as global IT experts monitored regional - first past the dateline - activity, seeking clues to the malware's author and the feared attack plans.

"Infected computers are trying to find a way to call home, but at this stage nothing malicious is happening," said AusCERT senior information security analyst Zane Jarvis.

"We're seeing hosts do the look-up for IP addresses of sites like google.com or microsoft.com, but nothing is responding and they're not getting any IP addresses."

Mr Jarvis said there had been an increase in local network traffic, with infected machines apparently programmed to do standard Domain Name Server requests for a set period, then "go to sleep" for 90 minutes or so before starting again.

"It's possible that the controller will wait for all the attention to die down, and then do something when everyone stops watching," he said.

Also known as Downadup, the malware exploits a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows systems that allows a remote hacker to take control of infected machines.

Microsoft issued a patch to fix the bug last October, and people who regularly update their software are protected, but an estimated 9-15 million computers worldwide may have been compromised.

Security analysts are particularly worried because they don't know what the mystery attacker has in mind.

Threats range from financial fraud and identity theft on a grand scale, to massed armies of computers being used to launch denial-of-service attacks.

IT security vendors such as Symantec are monitoring the situation, and plan to issue updates if any suspicious new activities are detected.

McAfee's regional technical services director, Michael Sentonas, expected more network traffic overnight as users in Europe and North America came online.

"The biggest unknown is whether some dangerous functionality will be unleashed," he said.

Mr Sentonas warned that publicity over the threat had spawned a large number of "rogue websites" offering fake removal tools which people were downloading free of charge.

"Unfortunately, these so-called anti-virus detection and cleanup tools actually download other malicious content, creating a never-ending cycle of threats to your machine," he said.

"Rather than doing a search for free tools on Google or Yahoo!, my advice is always to deal with reputable vendors _ all of which offer free tools and advice."

Late yesterday, the US-based SANS Internet Storm Center maintained its ``green'' internet safety rating, with director Marcus Sachs saying that while "over the next 24 hours Conficker will change the way it communicates, we don't expect much of anything else to happen".
source : http://www.australianit.news.com.au/

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MILLIONS of computers around the world could go into meltdown on April 1 because of a deadly virus.

The Windows worm called Conficker could give a hacker unrestricted access to every infected machine on the planet.

And the aggressive bug could be hiding on your PC at home right now, waiting to kick in.

For the hackers, it’s like having a virtual army at their fingertips.

The criminals behind it have the power to launch a tidal wave of junk emails, bringing computers grinding to a halt.

They could also plunder information, including your bank details.

But the truth is that the best techie brains in the business just don’t know exactly what the hackers have in mind.

Infected:

Virus expert Mikko Hypponen, from the firm F-Secure, said: “It is scary thinking about how much control a hacker could have over all these computers. They would have access to millions of machines.”

Microsoft, who developed the Windows computer operating system, have slapped a £175,000 bounty on whoever is responsible, so far without success.

The sophisticated Conficker bug — also known as Downadup or Kido — targets systems via the web and can be spread on memory sticks.

More than nine million computers were infected at the bug’s peak last month.

And if Conficker is still on your system come Wednesday, you could be in trouble.

Once inside your PC, it sets up files and starts downloading information from a controlling “boss” server.

Finding that website and the mastermind behind it all is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

That is because the bug creates hundreds of bogus addresses every day to put investigators off the scent.

The infected PCs then form a network and “talk” to each other, updating and evolving.

The bug even attacks anti-virus software and other files on your computer to strengthen its position.

And it resets “restore” points, making recovery of your old system even harder.

The first of three Conficker strains was discovered in November last year.

A second, more aggressive strain followed in December and a third this month. This contains the all-important April 1 trigger.

Trigger :

To avoid infection, Windows users must download a special free update “patch” from the Microsoft website. But that isn’t enough — you also need good anti-virus software too.

Many businesses around the world are thought also to be at risk after failing to update systems.

Graham Cluley, from computer security firm Sophos, warned: “Microsoft did a good job of updating people’s home computers.

“But the virus continues to infect businesses that have ignored the update.”

He also stressed the need for strong passwords on your computer, adding: “If users are using weak passwords — 12345, QWERTY etc — then the virus can crack them.”

F-Secure’s Mikko warned potential problems with Conficker would be highlighted wildly before April 1.

But he said he didn’t foresee an attack, despite the fears and mystery surrounding the problem.

He said: “There’s always hype — just think of previous cases.

“There is not going to be a ‘global virus attack’. We don’t know what they are planning to do, if anything.

“I think the machines that are already infected might do something new on April 1.”

Let’s hope, for everyone’s sake, that it turns out to be an April Fools’ Day hoax.


TEST your system’s safety for free by attempting to go to f-secure.com. If you can’t, you can download the patch at microsoft.com to disinfect your PC.

Source

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Jerusalem (1987) ... one of the earliest and most successful viruses activated each year on Friday the 13th — either displaying a message or deleting any programs that ran on the day. The virus, dubbed Jerusalem, installed itself in the target computer's memory when an infected file was opened.

Early versions of Jerusalem — one instance of which was found in a military office in Israel — repeatedly infected files until the computer became overwhelmed by their size. It remained active throughout the 1990s, infecting many computers in enterprises and government offices and becoming a popular template for future viruses due to its simple code.

Stoned (1987) ... old viruses never die — that was the warning from anti-virus experts after the Stoned virus resurfaced in 2007, a full 13 years after it was written. The Stoned — or Marijuana — virus became widespread in the early 1990s. It was the most successful virus in terms of number of infections, infiltrating hard drives and the boot sector of floppy disks.

The most common effect of Stoned was to display a message on the screen when the computer started up that read: "Your PC is now stoned. Legalise marijuana." There are more than 90 variants of the virus — and last year it resurfaced to infect a number of laptops running Microsoft Windows after anti-virus programs detected the virus but failed to remove it.

Tequila (1991) ... one of the first widespread viruses to use stealth techniques in order to avoid detection, Tequila was particularly dangerous as it couldn't be removed from the infected computer's memory.

Tequila infected computers by writing an unencrypted copy of itself to sectors of the system hard disk and modifying the master boot record. It used a scrambling method to avoid disassembly, changing itself from one infection to the next.

Michelangelo (1991) ... the Michelangelo virus sparked a media frenzy in 1992, one year after its discovery. After spreading quietly for months, the virus activated on March 6, 1991 — the birth date of its namesake — destroying data on tens of thousands of computers by overwriting parts of the hard disk with random data.

In the weeks before March 6, 1992, the Michelangelo virus became a major news event with constant warnings about its destructive potential. The media coverage descended into hysteria with predictions Michelangelo would wipe out millions of computers. However when March 6 finally arrived only around 10,000 computers were infected, and anti-virus companies were accused of creating hype about the virus to increase sales.

ILOVEYOU (2000) ... as the internet became more popular virus creators turned to programs such as worms — pieces of malicious code that, unlike viruses, are not attached to a "host" file and can reproduce themselves.

The most destructive worm of all time was ILOVEYOU, also known as LoveLetter, which spread by email and disguised itself as a romantic message to the recipient. If opened, it would send itself to everyone in the user's address book, clogging email systems around the world.

ILOVEYOU reached up to 45 million people in one day, causing more than $5 billion of damage with large corporations including the Pentagon and British Parliament forced to shut down their email systems.

Monopoly (2000) ... working in a similar way to ILOVEYOU, the Monopoly worm sent itself by email boasting "proof" that Microsoft boss Bill Gates was guilty of monopoly. At the time, Microsoft was immersed in a legal battle over its attempts to bundle Internet Explorer with its Windows operating system which led to accusations of abusing monopoly power.

The worm was delivered through an attachment called "Monopoly.vbs" that, when opened, displayed an humorous image of Bill Gates on a Monopoly game board. It then attempted to mass-mail itself to all of the user's Outlook contacts.

AnnaKournikova (2001) ... more a nuisance than a threat, this worm masqueraded as a picture of tennis star Anna Kournikova and relied on the public's fondness for the blonde pin-up in order to spread itself.

AnnaKournikova was short-lived and spread via Outlook email with the subject line "Here you have, ;o)", with an attachment called AnnaKournikova.jpg.vbs. Once opened, the worm copied itself to the Windows directory and sent the file to all contacts in the user's Outlook address book.

AnnaKournikova scourged numerous Australian Federal Government Departments and large companies, with some receiving thousands of emails per hour. The worm's creator said he wanted to pay homage to Anna Kournikova as she "deserves some attention". He succeeded spectacularly.

Nimda (2001) ... before Nimda, worms were spread simply by copying or emailing themselves. Nimda used this method but also moved via server-to-server web traffic, infecting shared network hard drives and downloading itself to users who were browsing websites hosted on infected servers.

The result was hundreds of thousands of infections on servers and home computers and a slowdown in internet traffic as Nimda searched for vulnerable servers to attack. Some media reports suggested there may be a link between the virus and Al-Qaeda, as the worm was released in September 2001 — though this was proven to be false .

Sasser (2004) ... a German teenager boasted about becoming the hero of his class after writing the potent Sasser worm that could spread without user intervention. Sasser exploited a operating system flaw, prompting some computers using Windows XP and Windows 2000 systems to continually crash and reboot. However it was easily stopped by a well-configured firewall or by Windows Update downloads.

Sasser caused disruption worldwide, halting Australia's Railcorp trains as operators couldn't communicate with signalmen and forcing the cancellation of 40 Delta Air Lines trans-Atlantic flights. Over 400 post office branches in Taiwan had to revert to using pen and paper after more than a thousand of its machines were hit by the virus.

Storm (2007) ... the worst virus to hit computers in recent times, Storm is classed as a "superworm". It has become well-known for the way it constantly morphs into new forms and finds ways to exploit people's weaknesses. In 2007 it infected thousands of computers by masquerading as an email about a weather disaster, and then mutated and spread with another fake attachment infecting 10 million computers.

Storm continues to infect unsuspecting users today, with subject lines focusing on a range of topics from Facebook to love interests. Recent versions can disguise themselves from virus scans and even shut down security programs. A warning has been issued about emails claiming the Beijing Olympics will be delayed or cancelled due to earthquake damage, which appear to contain a link to a video but in fact are the Storm worm in disguise.

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