Most people are not aware that their computer can easily become one of the hordes of zombie computers that the bad guys use to cause problems for other people.
What in the World is a Zombie Computer?
Any computer can become a zombie. A zombie computer is also called a ‘bot’. Bots (short for robots) are computers that allow an unauthorized person to take control over someone else’s computer. When activated by their master, these machines participate in some very malicious actions sometimes as part of an army of hundreds or even thousands of controlled computers. When this happens it is called a botnet.
These hordes can run DoS (denial of Service) attacks against web sites or entire networks, host phishing attacks and send out hundreds of thousands of spam messages. If you trace the source of the attacks, you will only find a zombie whose owner is totally unaware that their computer is being used to attack others.
How can you tell if your PC is a Zombie?
Your PC can become a zombie as the result of a hacker, a malicious website, infected email, download file or even a flash drive planting the zombie program on your machine.
These programs are very good at hiding themselves. Many times they have file names that are identical to or very similar to legitimate programs so most users would not think anything was wrong even if they saw them listed as running in the task manager. The only to identify the impostor is by looking at where the file is stored. Svchost.exe is one file name commonly used by malware because every time your operating system opens a new process or application it will create a new instance of the svchost.exe file.
Facebook and twitter have been plagued by URLs that are hiding an infection planted through friend messages on Facebook or an innocuous tweet like “Is this You in this Video”. Once you click on the link your computer becomes a zombie. To make matters worse many bots will send a message to everyone in your address book, friends list or all your followers on twitter trying to get them to click on the same link so they can also be infected.
Unless one of your friends asks you why you sent them the link or video, you will never know your computer is infected.
How Can You Protect Your Computer from Zombies?
You can prevent your computer from becoming a zombie by performing routine maintenance on a regular schedule. If you use Facebook, Twitter, download a lot of files you need to use a good anti-malware and anti-virus program. Turn on the active elements such as scanning emails and downloads in real time. Since there is always some lag in virus and malware definitions, set you automatic download for new definitions for daily downloads so your definitions are as up to date as possible.
Schedule a full scan of your computer for once a week. Then after you perform the scan, defrag your hard drive and run a good registry cleaner to eliminate any problems these programs can cause in the registry.
If you maintain your computer properly, you should never have a zombie living in your house.
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