You may use your computer every day, but do you reallycomprehend the lingo? Aol.com has done a survey and foundthat few computer users really understand “Geek Speak.” Whatdo “phishing” and “spyware” mean? What’s a blog? And whatdoes it mean when a friend signs his email “LOL?”
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Think you’re anonymous when you fire off a nasty letter onthe internet or peruse that forbidden porn site? A computerresearcher has found a way to track exactly what anycomputer is doing on the internet?so you could be beingwatched.
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You know your phone can be tapped, but you probably think you have complete privacy when typing on your computer keyboard. However, spies can eavesdrop on what you’re writing by listening to the sounds of your keystrokes.
IBM research scientist Dmitri Asonov says that every key on computer keyboards, telephones and even ATM machines makes a unique sound as it’s pressed and released. All you need to listen is $200 worth of microphones and sound processing software. Asonov says he can decipher keystrokes with 80% accuracy.
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Microsoft thinks the recent computer worms were a terrorist attack. Now Peter Simpson, of ThreatLab, says that they were part of a plot by organized crime to take over the internet. He says, “This is the sixth in a series of controlled experiments. This isn’t about some kiddy writing viruses in his bedroom?this is really a very sophisticated example of organized crime.”
Will Sturgeon writes that Simpson fears that computer techs are so busy getting rid of the Sobig infection that they?ll “take their eyes off the ball” and ignore the real threat. And he thinks there are worse threats to come.
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