Did you think you will only lose personal information when you send your computer for repairs? For any data stored in the computer, there is likelihood that it might be Trojan infected or your personnel particulars stolen by hacker.
Many times, hackers exploit the loopholes in the browser software or flaws in the computer security settings to insert backdoor programs. Whenever we connect to the World Wide Web with our browser, we download tons of information such as pictures, text, flash animations, video clips from the websites. If these data do not seem to be what you expect it to be, there is a chance it already has certain malicious links incorporated in it. Even normal looking webpage can contain dubious contents and downloads malware to the user when the webpage is being viewed. In fact, this happens pretty frequently.
In some companies, either due to poor management by their MIS team or otherwise, hackers manage to find certain loopholes in their system and inserted malware into their servers, resulting in their official websites showing links that point to other computers instead. These computers are actually home user PCs which the hackers had previously invaded and acts as their springboard or what we always called zombie computers, which in-turn will infect more computers. For a popular website with huge amount of internet traffic, infection can be very widespread in a very short amount of time. Then, the hacker will be able to steal much personal information for sale or other illegal acts.
USB virus is a widespread virus in Asia region, which is also a springboard for data thefts. USB virus makes use of the operating system’s storage device auto-run program, to auto download and infect the computer whenever a USB storage device or similar is being plugged in. Similar to web viruses, USB virus is also meant to hack into the computer to install a backdoor program in order to steal your information or to turn your computer into the springboard to do so. Hence, in order for USB virus to work, it will still require a connection to the internet and that’s where antivirus software comes in to break up this connectivity.
Most recent viruses are aimed at information thefts. In order to do so, they should not let the user know about the infection. If the virus made its presence known by being a nuisance, then I would say it is a failure and did not fulfill its objective of stealing information. The key function of a USB virus resides in the Downloader (auto-run), and only when it is able to download a backdoor program quietly, would it then have served its purpose.
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