How dangerous hackers with their wicked designs could be is very well known by the present happening that I am going to discuss ahead. The event also reveals the loopholes of US computer security. It is also quite ironical and noteworthy here that a country that is known for its every thing best and even boasts of its best-of-the-breed or avant-garde security is also open to cyber attack. Yes May 2006 was the year when a virus targeted US State Department computers, penetrated its networks after a worker in Asia opened an unsolicited email. On being entered into the government networks, the malware exploited an unpatched Microsoft Word flaw to disseminate. A few weeks after investigators of the government discovered numerous examples of infectivity, reported to Microsoft, and stopped the State Department’s Internet connections all through eastern Asia. As a result of the closedown of Internet connection the US government offices were left in the region but for net access in the tense weeks before missile tests by North Korea.
The State Department controlled the infection in early July. Microsoft released a patch to defend against the attack on August 8, almost 10 weeks following the original attack. The bug-ridden email at the core of the attack had a Microsoft Word document with material from a congressional speech regarding Asian diplomacy. The malicious email hid code that made use of a flaw in Word to hijack Windows computers and open a back door to unidentified hackers. The attack was purportedly spotted rapidly and controlled through an investigation. However while security specialists got to know that the compromise had disseminated deeper, causing the loss of some data, State Department security specialists switched the plug on East Asian offices.
