I noticed a blip on various news sites yesterday and today. Apparently the Chinese government is accused of attacking/hijacking foreign reporters Gmail accounts.  India and other governments have complained that the Chinese have attacked their government computers.  China claims that they are the “biggest victim of hacking attacks“.

CNET TV explains how the attacks traced back to China in this almost 7 minute video.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYhxaWKdsL0[/youtube]

According to The Register, issues in IE6 were the root of recent attacks against Google and other  hi-tech firms last month.  These attacks reported originated in China.

“This attack involved very advanced methods, with several pieces of malware working in concert to give the attackers full control of the infected system, at the same time it attempts to disguise itself as a common connection to a secure website,” he explains. “This way, the attackers were able to covertly gather all the information they wanted without being discovered.”

In a Security Advisory IE 6, IE 7 and IE 8 on supported editions of Windows XP, Vista and 7 are vulnerable.  Microsoft was aware of attacks specifically against IE 6.  Microsoft listed a few workarounds that will not eliminate the vulnerability it would help block similar attacks.  Of course these workarounds can reduce functionality.

According to the The Register, the governments of Australia, France and Germany are suggesting users download Firefox, Safari or Chrome as alternatives to IE (until Microsoft gets the issue fixed).  Microsoft has promised to adjust its standard patch cycle to address this issue.

Unless your computer cannot handle a browser newer than IE 6, it is truly time to download a newer browser. The Internet and Web are changing and evolving and the newer versions of Firefox, IE, Safari, Chrome are available to better display the web to you.

This is a significant security issue. Without trying to get too technical, this attack has the potential to affect a large quantity of computers.  If you have ever had to deal with viruses or other malware on your computer, this has the potential to be as bad as you have ever seen.  I am sure that Microsoft will patch the vulnerabilities, but this is an excellent opportunity to verify the security on you computers.  It is time to verify that you have updated Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware software installed and know how to use it.

If you have questions about how to make sure you are safe, this article from Stepcase Lifehack has 8 easy to understand guidelines.  Whether you use free or commercial tools to protect your computer, make sure you use them and they are up to date.

–Karl Johnson, Tech Dog