These days modems come built into computers and Internet access many times is cheaper than regular telephone service. It seems everyone has a license to cruise the information super highway.

There are a variety of ways for people to interact across the globe, such as e-mail, chat rooms and instant messaging services. However, some of this interaction may not be on the level.

“People seem to think that talking to others about unclassified information is harmless, but it’s not,” said Capt. Eric Eibe, 39th Air Base Wing operational security program manager. “Enough unclassified information pieced together may likely form a classified picture. I’ve seen too many times where a deployed military member will advertise in a chat room their full name, rank and unit and where they are currently deployed.”

Like any other kind of anti-terrorism and force protection actions, people should be careful about what information they share over the Internet and through e-mail.

“With the dawn of the information age, our adversaries have another tool with which to acquire information we don’t want them to have,” said Capt. John Peresta, 39th ABW antiterrorism and force protection chief. “Whether it’s done by hacking into computers or people mentioning sensitive information to friends and family through e-mail, computers have become a favorite for terrorists to gather information about military activities.”

While e-mail and chat rooms are a way for terrorists to get information directly from military personnel, home computers themselves are not immune from giving away information to enemies through spyware. Viruses, while not necessarily an information-gathering means, can be used to overwhelm a system and destroy it.

“There are many risks with hooking any system up to a network,” said Senior Airman Jennifer Heckle, 39th Communications Squadron information protection technician. “By hooking your computer to a network you are making it available to others, to include those that want to do harm to any system they can.”

Spyware is a program that gets on a person’s computer and, like the name indicates, spy on the user’s activities, Airman Heckle said. It can collect information like what the user types and what Internet sites they visit and transmits back to the source of the program.

The implications of this type of program infecting a computer are far reaching, and should frighten anyone, she said. This kind of program can collect passwords, social security numbers and personal information that could be used to steal a person’s identity or even to access restricted sites.

While viruses and malicious programs like Trojan horses and worms have a variety of ways of getting on a computer, they all act and are activated in different ways.

“A virus needs human interaction to become malicious, usually in the form of an executable file,” Airman Heckle said. “The file is activated when a user clicks on or executes the program. A worm does not need human interaction. It can spread from machine to machine and has the ability to replicate itself without any human help.”

A Trojan horse uses another program to hide its presence, Airman Heckle said. Once the program is activated the Trojan horse begins to wreak havoc on the host system, such as launching pop-up ads and in some cases opening a backdoor for someone else to access the system.

Often systems are infected with these types of programs through shareware downloads.
“The best thing to do before you download software is to do research on it,” Airman Heckle said. “It is also highly encouraged to load the free antivirus software provided by the Air Force for home use.”

If you are doing official work at home, free antivirus software may be available. People can access this software with the help of their unit’s computer network security personnel.

“Whether you are using high-speed or dial-up Internet, you should always be aware of what sites you are accessing and downloading,” she said. “It is recommended you use any available software firewall that comes with your operating system and purchase a hardware firewall to enhance your security posture.”

Viruses and spyware put individuals and systems at risk but people should remember that often they are the weakest link in the chain. People who don’t carefully review what they have written before hitting the “send” or “post” button put everyone at risk.

(Courtesy of U.S. Air Forces in Europe News Service)