Alert and aware

Trojan horses are small, malicious⁴ programs usually hidden in e-mail attachments. They can also be picked up on certain websites. They can perform a number of functions once they are launched unwittingly⁵, such as secretly install keylogging programs which can then be used to gather sensitive passwords and other information. Net security firm Sophos said it had seen a threefold increase in the number of keylogging Trojans alone in the last year.

"We see more than a dozen new pieces of malware capable of stealing highly valuable and sensitive information every day," said Carole Theriault, security consultant at Sophos. "While it's worrying that the UK's critical infrastructure could be at risk, this also serves as a reminder to all UK businesses that they must keep their systems secure to avoid confidentiality leaks. Every computer used for business must be protected with up-to-date anti-virus software and a firewall." Increasingly, people are fooled into opening the e-mails because many have a subject line which makes them look like normal correspondence. Once the e-mail attachment is opened, a Trojan can enable a hacker to take control of the recipient's PC. The e-mails also often appear to come from people known to the recipient. This kind of "social engineering" is a newer aspect to net threats which cybercriminals are using. The continued use of e-mail distribution lists to discuss certain topics within businesses and government departments meant specific information and e-mail addresses could be gleaned from⁶ the net quite easily, said Richard Veale, director of the specialist information risk management firm, Ebis. This way, cybercriminals could tailor e-mails to look like a relevant discussion topic to the recipient. "Some very sophisticated individuals are leveraging the inadequacy in government and corporate security around information flows," he told the BBC News website. This meant there was a "phenomenal amount" of "uncontrolled information", he said. "Organisations and government departments are not in control of the information process as much as they thought. It is like leaving a window ajar." He said quantification of the scale of the threat appeared to be almost impossible and that many businesses may even be unaware they have been hit by a Trojan.

Up to you

Recent reports from anti-virus firms suggest that hackers are getting more sophisticated and can make viruses and other harmful software mutate so quickly that anti-virus software has difficulty keeping up. The UK's NISCC and National Hi-Tech Crime Unit are working with the authorities in a number of Asian countries to identify and shut down the internet addresses the attacks are coming from. "There is a limit to what government resources can do and it is up to companies and organisations to take responsibility themselves," said the Home Office spokesperson. "It is clearly important for companies to always be aware that there are vulnerabilities⁷ and threats out there." \5200\

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4098784.stm

Task 4. Read the text once again and write down in the notebook the translation of the underlined words from Russian into English. Write down in the notebook your own examples with them /situation /dialogue.

Task 5. Using English-English dictionary write down all the meanings of the following words, get ready to speak on them in the classroom:

1. Relevant (aject.)

2. Sensitive (aject.)

3. Sophisticated (aject.)

4. To pick

5. To pin

6. To serve

Task 6. Find in the text and put down in the notebook English equivalents for the following Russian words and word combinations.

засекреченная информация, данные десятикратный служит напоминанием утечки информации выполнять ряд функций предел чему-то невольно, случайно цели

приспосабливать для определенной рассылка осведомленность, информированность в постоянном взаимодействии неадекватность заставить что-либо сделать обманным путем подавляющий

давать возможность прикрыть, закрыть слабые места изменяться устанавливать важный законный утонченный, сложный с точность назвать, вычислить, обнаружить

Task 7. Write down and be ready to ask your group mates 15 questions to the text.

Task 8. Using the underlined words get ready to retell the text. (If it is necessary make notes in your notebooks.)