Make No Assumptions. Security Begins With the Basics. YOU

There have been previous news about vendors releasing software with viruses, security vendor sites being compromised and similar incidents.

The mishaps continue ...

In a recent news article in Network World Asia titled "Seagate ships virus-laden hard drives", it was reported that:


"If you bought one of Seagate's Maxtor Basics consumer hard drives recently, check it for viruses. Especially if you're a gamer.

Seagate is warning that a "small number" of its Maxtor Basics Personal Storage 3200 hard drives recently shipped with the Virus.Win32.AutoRun.ah virus, malicious software that "searches for passwords for online games and sends them to a server located in China," according to a note posted on the Seagate Web site. Only drives purchased since August 2007 are affected, Seagate said." >> More ..

This time it is gaming software players who are the targets. Could it be anything else next time like bank accounts or access to corporate sites .... the possibility is so broad.

In yet another article in Network World Asia titled "Indian news site dispensing malware", it was mentioned that:

"The Web site of IndiaTimes, the online news site of the Times Group, one of India's large news and entertainment groups, exposed visitors to malware, according to an advisory Friday by ScanSafe Inc.

ScanSafe first detected and blocked malware on the site on October 25. ScanSafe is still investigating the reach of this attack, but given the popularity of the site and the amount of malware involved, the company is urging caution, it said in its advisory Friday. Only certain pages of the Indiatimes.com are infected, the advisory added." >> More ..

The above news basically pass the message that all users should not make any assumptions about any hardware or software they acquire or install and any website that they access as the malware can be embedded in just about anywhere and in the most unlikely of all places.

Hence defence against the consequences of such incidents requires users to be sufficiently aware, educated and acculturated about good computing practices including:

1. Having good anti-malware protection that is installed and running
2. Access to credible sites only and avoid strange or unusual sites
3. Ensure that any devices plugged in especially the usb devices are scanned for viruses before use.
4. Reminding peers about good computing practices.

A good defence for both personal and organisational or corporate use begins with YOU.
It may be that through your simple negligence, the whole corporate network that you are using and critical systems can be affected.