07/02/2007

Hackers attack internet-connected PCs every 39 seconds on average, according to new research.

The study by the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland indicated that web users with non-secure passwords and usernames are more likely to fall foul of these attacks.

It was also found that most attacks are carried out by hackers who use automated scripts to search for thousands of PCs at the same time, rather than those seeking out individual targets.

Dictionary scripts are harnessed to discover popular usernames - with 'root' being the most used - while hackers guess passwords by inputting variations on the username.

'Our data provide quantifiable evidence that attacks are happening all the time to computers with internet connections,' commented Michel Cukier, assistant professor of mechanical engineering for Clark School.

'The computers in our study were attacked, on average, 2,244 times a day.'

Last night, hackers attempted to bring down several of largest servers on the internet, including those operated by the US defence department and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann).

However, disruption for web users was kept to a minimum, officials at Icann said.