The indictment further alleged that the defendants then collected files and other information from the
compromised computers and stole this data.
However, as noted earlier, some of the
compromised computers may be flagged by the attackers as interesting and receive special manual treatment from them.
That
compromised computer is used by a botnet to lure new users by various means such as spam email.
Consider, to cite just one example, that the NYT had to stay on digital vigil for four full months so that it could 'identify every digital back door the hackers used' following which time it had to replace "every
compromised computer and set up new defences in hopes of keeping hackers out".
"It is a destructive malware that corrupts files on a
compromised computer and overwrites the MBR (Master Boot Record) in an effort to render a computer unusable," Symantec says in a blog posting about the virus, which it called W32.Disttrack.
"We will ensure that we will further reinforce our systems with all available means to protect against a recurrence of this type of cyber-attack." Without directly referring to the Saudi Aramco attack, Symantec, one of the world's largest Internet security companies, described the virus as a destructive malware that corrupts files on a
compromised computer and overwrites the MBR (Master Boot Record) in an effort to render a computer unusable.
To a large extent it doesn't matter who was behind the creation and release of Stuxnet; that it
compromised computer systems at Bushehr is almost beside the point.
The user of the
compromised computer is usually unaware that anything malicious has occurred.
Just as we can replace hardware, so can we rebuild a
compromised computer.
Symantec Security Response has confirmed that the attack involves Trojan.Pidief.J, which is a PDF file that drops a back door onto the
compromised computer if an affected product is installed.
But these days, when stolen data and
compromised computer systems make headlines all too frequently, you may be concerned about how safe it is to file returns over the Internet.
Nearly two-thirds of the insiders
compromised computer accounts, created unauthorized backdoor accounts, or used shared accounts in their attacks.