Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Hijacked PCs blamed for a third of spam

Dec 3, 2003 12:00AM PST

PCs that have been compromised by Trojans are being used by spammers to relay vast amounts of email and avoid detection

One third of all spam circulating the Web is relayed through PCs that have been compromised by Remote Access Trojans (RATs), according to corporate spam and antivirus company, Sophos.

Cluley said that if a RAT is able to get into a PC, an attacker could take full control of that PC, as long as it is connected to the Internet. "They can steal information, read files, write files, send emails from that users name -- it is as though the attacker has broken into the office or home and is sitting in front of that computer," he said.

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/broadband/0,39020342,39118252,00.htm

Discussion is locked