By Myles Cairns

The FBI recently provided a warning to consumers and businesses that concerns everyone and highlights how vulnerable we all are. Even if you do everything right - you could still become a victim of identity theft.

There are criminals all around the globe who seize control of thousands of computers through what are known as "botnets". These botnets are a dramatically growing threat, says Shawn Henry, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division, in an interview with Newsmax. 

                        

Botnets target home and business computers

Consumers, business, hospital, government and even police departments are targets of infiltration by botnets. According to Newsmax, the FBI has recently arrested 11 individuals who allegedly infected and commandeered over one million personal computers and turned them into robots that did their bidding.

The number of cyber crimes grows each year as identity thieves get more sophisticated and consumers must take measures to minimize the danger to their computers, their credit and identity. Everyone needs to use updated antivirus software, spyware protection and firewall programs.

Shawn Henry of the FBI suggests computer users think of the Internet as they would a dangerous neighborhood where their personal safety may be threatened.

“If you’re walking in a neighborhood that’s a high crime neighborhood, you have to be aware of your surroundings,” Henry says. “You don’t walk looking at your shoes and walk straight ahead. You’re aware of what’s going on. You’re looking ahead, you’re looking to your side, you hear somebody who’s walking behind you and you’re going to turn your head.”

The Internet should be treated the same way.


Slave computers are used to attack

A botnet allows a criminal to seize control of any number of computers by introducing malicious programs into each computer through its Internet connection.

With a single command, these slave computers can be used to engage in phishing schemes, inducing people to give up their personal information in response to phony emails supposedly sent by banks.

“The bad guys who control such networks have harvested hundreds or thousands or tens of thousands of pieces of information,” Henry says. “That includes people’s user names and passwords for their brokerage accounts, people’s pin numbers for their bank accounts, and people’s tax records.”

To harvest information, a cyber criminal might send a million spam emails to unsuspecting computers across the country.

“If one half of one percent of the people respond, they’ve got some good numbers to work with,” Henry says. Once a computer is compromised, a criminal can retrieve any information from that computer. Affected consumers often have no idea that their computer has been compromised.


You must provide the first line of defence

“It’s important for computer users to understand that they’ve got to take certain measures in their home. They are the first line of defense”, Henry says.

Henry suggests that consumers choose passwords that have upper case and lower case letters as well as numbers and those passwords should be changed periodically. 

"What we’ve seen via the Internet is groups of people who are collaborating online to commit crimes,” Henry says. “They never know their co-conspirators’ true names. They don’t know where they live, but they all have a skill. In the virtual world, it’s done virtually, collaborating online without anyone actually knowing each other.”

"If determined enough, sophisticated criminals can penetrate any computer", Henry says.

“But taking the right precautions makes it more difficult,” Henry says. “And the higher you can raise the bar, the better off you are as a consumer.”