Network of viruses
Viruses have always been nothing but annoying and frustrating. I would always be casually searching through a website just to have my computer reboot or shut down on me because of a virus. In this article, it mentions that these attackers have found a way to infiltrate Cisco routers and cause computers connected to these routers to be affected by a virus. As stated in the article, this specific virus “backdoors” the users’ computers and is therefore very difficult to track down. By doing so, the virus is able to compromise the users’ device and then go onto finding a new target to attack through the users’ device. Similar to viruses that mutate in our bodies, this Cisco router virus is so hidden that once people have found the “problem area”, the attackers are already secretly overwriting the program so that the problem cannot be solved. How irritating, right?
This article correlates to our class discussion on networking through social media because the networks and connections that viruses encounter in order to infect multiple devices at once (or sequentially) is the same as how people meet other people–through people introducing their friends to others. If a user were to be able to figure out and get rid of the virus, that would end the network and it would die out there–similar to people making friends. If someone were to shut out the world and become anti-social, he or she’s networks of friends would (unfortunately) die out. On the other hand, if a virus were to prosper through the user not being able to figure out why the virus was there, it would search through the user’s computer for new networks and therefore begin infecting new users. Using the same example as before, a person will continue to make new friends if he or she continuously meets new people through the connections of those people. It’s an endless web of networking.
Source: http://www.networkworld.com/article/2984124/security/attackers-can-take-over-cisco-routers-other-routers-at-risk-too.html