BIOS: Technology Means Business

Internet Security Systems has announced that over the past 12 months, the number of sports-related Web pages has increased by over 17 per cent world wide.

Research undertaken by ISS, as part of its Web content filtering service, has found that in addition to the football World Cup, other major sporting events such as the Tour de France are also crucial factors in what makes website operators constantly expand their offerings of sports Web sites.

It can also be concluded that this summer’s football World Cup has helped put sporting Web sites back on the map. From the research, ISS was able to establish the top five countries worldwide hosting the highest number of sporting sites. These include: USA (52 per cent), Brazil (8.9 per cent), Germany (8.9 per cent), UK (6.3 per cent), Canada (3.6 per cent), Others (20.3 per cent).

“With over 5.5 billion Web pages available on the Internet today, a 17 per cent increase is phenomenal rise in the number of sites dedicated to the sporting world,” says James Rendell, Senior Technology Specialist at Internet Security Systems. “With the uptake of broadband internet across the world and in this on-demand society we are living in, people are now able to find and watch those sports programmes they are interested in. It seems the Internet has taken the viewer away from the TV and placed them in front of the computer.”

ISS also warns all e-mail and Internet users to watch out for phishing scams associated with sports, especially with the excitement surrounding the current football World Cup. In the weeks surrounding the World Cup, many phishing e-mails will do the rounds that promote football. For example, most recently seen, is the e-mail announcing to the victim that they have won tickets to the World Cup.

Organised criminals use this method to lure users to visit specifically designed and prepared Web sites, which are used to infect the victim’s PC with worms, viruses and Trojans. This allows the criminal gang to gain control of systems or access confidential information such as usernames, passwords, or bank account information and credit card numbers.

In order to protect against these kinds of attack, ISS recommends that computer user follow the following guidelines. All the latest security patches and updates are applied to all software on the computer. While Microsoft update can be used to patch the operating system, users should also make sure that other packages such as Microsoft Office and ActiveX components within popular web browsers (e.g. Shockwave Flash, QuickTime, etc.) are similarly updated.

Don’t attempt to open any attachments that come via e-mail, instant messenger, or other file sharing network unless you can positively verify the source. Many worms and viruses propagate by compromising one computer and sending e-mails to everyone listed in the address book on the computer. Therefore friends and colleagues will receive an email supposedly from someone they trust - only to be fooled into opening a dangerous attachment. Finally, make sure that all desktop protection software is fully up to date and has the latest signatures installed.

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