TechWeb's Internet Evolution Debuts Botnet Video Tutorial
Security expert Gideon Lenkey calls on enterprises to sharply limit access to instant messaging, social networking sites, and Web mail to reduce likelihood of 'bot' infection
NEW YORK, Sept. 12 -- Basic Web browsing is all it takes to infect your computer with a bot that turns it into an international spam server, or worse. But cleaning up a bot-infected PC is a lot tougher, since most anti-virus software doesn't catch bots' constantly morphing signatures, says Ra Security co-founder Gideon Lenkey in a video tutorial posted today on the Internet Evolution Website.
Click here to view the botnet tutorial: http://www.internetevolution.com/tutorial_botnets.asp
Botnets -- where as many of as hundreds of thousands of client PCs do the inadvertent bidding of "bot herders," who in turn rent out the networks to spammers or malicious hackers -- put both enterprises and consumers at risk, says Lenkey, who's won numerous commendations from the Federal Bureau of Investigation for his IT security curriculum.
Effectively mitigating bot infection requires multiple layers of protection, starting with usage policies. "Users on your network should not be permitted to view pornographic material, visit social networking sites, or directly use instant messaging or Web mail accounts -- all common infection vectors for bots," Lenkey says in the new video tutorial, which is broken up into 10 segments of 2-3 minutes each. He also recommends content filters, proxies, and an "aggressive" outbound firewall policy that only permits traffic justified by business need. "It won't make you popular, but it sure will make you safer," he notes.
Bots and botnets aren't a new threat, but their commercialization, coupled with their ability to spam or undertake dedicated denial-of-service (DDOS) attacks, makes it important to understand the nature of this malware threat, according to Internet Evolution Editor in Chief Terry Sweeney. "Botnets operate under the radar and consume desktop and WAN resources, turning a healthy enterprise into a host for virtual parasites," Sweeney says. "Whether you're an enterprise IT manager or an interested end-user, our new video tutorial will help you understand what you're up against and how to protect yourself better."
About Internet Evolution
Internet Evolution hosts more than 100 world-famous Internet experts -- such as Kevin Mitnick, once the most-wanted computer hacker in the world; Dr. Lawrence Roberts, inventor of packet switching, and one of the world's foremost authorities on telecom network architectures; Vint Cerf, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google; Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist.com; Paul Mockapetris, inventor of the Domain Name System (DNS); Howard Schmidt, former White House cybersecurity adviser; and Andrew Keen, author of Cult of the Amateur: How the Internet is killing our culture -- all of whom are addressing today's critical socio-economic issues within its ThinkerNet blogosphere. Internet Evolution also offers broadcast-quality broadband video documentaries and interviews; investigative reports; and user-generated content facilitated via the latest Web 2.0 technology.
About TechWeb
TechWeb (techweb.com/aboutus), the global leader in business technology media, is an innovative business focused on serving the needs of technology decision-makers and marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed media brands in the business technology market. Today, more than 13.3 million* business technology professionals actively engage in our communities created around our global face-to-face events Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat and VoiceCon; online resources such as the TechWeb Network, Light Reading, Intelligent Enterprise, InformationWeek.com, bMighty.com, and The Financial Technology Network; and the market leading, award-winning InformationWeek, TechNet Magazine, MSDN Magazine, Wall Street & Technology magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services ranging from next-generation performance marketing, integrated media, research, and analyst services. TechWeb is a division of United Business Media, a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion.
* 13.3 million business decision-makers: based on # of monthly connections
Contact
Amy Averbook
TechWeb's Internet Evolution
(212) 925-0020 x112
averbook at lightreading.com
