Maximum number of malicious programmes used the king of pop as bait in 2009
Maximum number of malicious programmes used the king of pop as bait in 2009
He used to say "I am bad" and the whole world loved him for saying it.
The king of pop is no more but he lives on. From New Orleans to Noida, everybody loved the Prince.
But we have a word of caution for all die-hard fans of MJ. Riding on the popularity of your favourite rock star, malicious programmes may also creep into your computer.
Statistics reveal that the frenzy that the death of Michael Jackson created was utilised by cyber thugs to create malicious programmes and disguise them under his name so that they be easily downloaded or get clicked by unsuspecting netizens. According to a leading cyber security firm, the maximum number of computer virus and malicious email attacks and those circulated on social networking websites like Twitter and Facebook in 2009 were in the name of Michael Jackson.
Apart from using the world's favourite musician, the hackers also made hay on the panic spread due to the swine flu pandemic. Twenty-seven per cent of the total hacking programmes were made in the name of the H1N1 influenza, which has been declared a worldwide emergency by the World Health Organisation.
After the world's best rockstar and the most talked about disease in the recent times, the third most popular cyber bait was the world's most powerful man US president Barack Obama. The cyber security firm said 11 per cent of the total malicious scripts were made in the name of Obama.
Issues involving applications for spying on partners are also highly successful. For example, attackers have been offering applications that supposedly allow you to read the SMS messages sent or received on a specific cell phone via the Internet.
Millions of innocent Internet users, who were infected on social networking sites, tried to open or download malicious links. Cyber crooks have mastered the skill of spoofing and make malicious pages and codes so real that they are hard to identify.
Not only pop stars and recent newsmakers, the last general elections also emerged as the favourite theme for hackers to write malicious scripts. Political themes proved an instant hit, as they have strong appeal among a wide audience.
During the recent elections, an Indian online non-profit portal that provides several voter services, including voter registration, voter list searching, election information, and assembly constituency searching, was targeted by hackers.
Delhi-based cyber security expert Vivek Vohra said, "Virus creators are acting almost like journalists and use recent news and newsmakers as bait to launch virus attacks."
Hackers' favourite
Michael Jackson's death: 30%u00a0u00a0
H1N1 (swine flu) virus: 27%u00a0u00a0
Obama's campaign and presidency: 11%u00a0u00a0
Software to spy on partners' SMSs: 9%u00a0u00a0u00a0
Independence Day: 8%u00a0u00a0u00a0
Reuters agency news: 5%u00a0u00a0u00a0
Online shopping discount vouchers: 4%u00a0u00a0u00a0
Valentine's Day cards: 2%u00a0u00a0u00a0
Farrah Fawcet's death: 2%u00a0u00a0u00a0
Links to Pussycat Dolls videos: 1%u00a0u00a0u00a0
Other: 1%
(numbers indicate the percentage of total virus attack themes in 2009)
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