Hacker attacks hit home computers 50 times a night

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Hacker attacks hit home computers 50 times a night

engine

5:51 pm on Oct 9, 2006 (gmt 0)

Home computers can be attacked by hackers more than 50 times a night, the results of an experiment showed today.
Every time a test PC was connected to the internet, it was targeted by viruses and attempts to gain access to the information it contained.
The experiment, carried out by the BBC News website, used a "honeypot" PC, which looked like a normal computer to potential hackers but secretly recorded every attempt to gain access to it.

Hacker attacks hit home computers 50 times a night [technology.guardian.co.uk]

coopster

2:32 pm on Oct 10, 2006 (gmt 0)

I started watching attempts like this around 7 years ago. It was interesting to see the attempts in the firewall logs. Back then it was on a dial-up connection with a software firewall left up and running all night. I was amazed at the number of attempts each night. It wasn't quite 50, but I want to say it averaged around 38 attempts per night. I imagine the numbers aren't drastically higher now as more and more folks are running virus scanners, firewalls, etc. Back then it was kind of a secondary thought for many home pcs to have that kind of protection so more and more were infected with zombies and bots running wild.

engine

4:20 pm on Oct 10, 2006 (gmt 0)

All those home users without a firewall must be suffering, probably without knowing it.

g1smd

5:05 pm on Oct 10, 2006 (gmt 0)

I have had just short of half a million hits on my firewall in just under 4 years.

Somedays I get several hit per second, and so I log off and get a new IP address.

spinnercee

6:15 pm on Oct 10, 2006 (gmt 0)

I'd say they're being quite conservative (optimistic?)...

50 times an hour is more like it.

NAT is a wonderful thing.

Beagle

7:33 pm on Oct 10, 2006 (gmt 0)

Maybe a stupid question, but I'm curious - Is there a reason it specifically says "per night"? Considering the web is open 24/7, and time zones are different all around the world, is there some reason nighttime would be more dangerous? Or is that just the easiest time to count attacks?

SteveWh

12:06 am on Oct 11, 2006 (gmt 0)

I've been online (dial-up) for 4 hours today, and my software firewall has blocked 250 inbound attempts.