Zombies: The Digital Undead

Overview

A zombie is a computer that has been compromised by attackers, typically for the purpose of sending spam e-mail and viruses to literally millions of recipients. These zombies strike fear into the hearts of IT personnel responsible for maintenance of corporate networks, and particularly those charged with protecting and ensuring the availability of vital corporate e-mail systems. Today's hackers (the "zombie masters") have become so sophisticated that they have begun creating coordinated networks of zombie computers that can launch a full-scale attack at a moment's notice. Like the living dead, armies of "zombie" computers are disrupting corporate networks and sucking the life out of business-critical systems around the world.

Some basic tenets of security should be followed at all times, whether you want to protect your enterprise network from spam, viruses and DDoS attacks spewed forth by zombie networks, or protect your home computer from joining the ranks of the undead. Download CipherTrust's free white paper, "Zombies: The Digital Undead" to learn how we've zeroed in on zombies, and your organization could reap the benefits.