Home PC users - Cyber Security's 'Soft Underbelly'

Home PC users and their unsecured computers are unwittingly making the surge of hacks, worms and viruses speeding across the Internet even more widespread than might otherwise be the case. This, according to a story that recently appeared in the Detroit Free Press. The article, entitled Unwary PC Users Can Aid Hackers, written by Jeff Bennett, is available here: http://www.freep.com/money/tech/cyber10_20040410.htm. It reports that the Homeland Security National Cyber Security Division's Computer Emergency Readiness Team's deputy director, Lawrence Hale, spoke before a digital security conference in Detroit last week. In his remarks, Hale talked about how worms like Blaster and SQL Slammer were designed to seek out host computers within which to hide and spread. The millions of unprotected broadband home PCs in the US make ideal hideouts for the self-replicating applications, and have enabled worms to distribute themselves freely. In early 2003, SQL Slammer, for example, spread worldwide through vulnerable PCs, ultimately bringing down bank ATM systems, government offices, companies and even airline flight booking systems.

"There is a whole fertile field of computing power that, for many hours of the day, is not being used," the Detroit Free Press reported Hale as saying. "People can't just treat their computers like an appliance where they plug it in and forget about it." And while the business world is reasonably conscientious about downloading and installing newer security patches for network systems, home users traditionally are less diligent, reported Hale.