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Video review: The Fire & Flood Collections
Understanding Hidden Threats: Corrupted Software Files
The Arab Spring and the Winter of Their Discontent
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Understanding Hidden Threats: Corrupted Software Files
Malicious code is not always hidden in web page scripts or unusual
file formats. Attackers may corrupt types of files that you would
recognize and typically consider safe, so you should take precautions
when opening files from other people.
What types of files can attackers corrupt?
An attacker may be able to insert malicious code into any file,
including common file types that you would normally consider safe.
These files may include documents created with word processing
software, spreadsheets, or image files. After corrupting the file, an
attacker may distribute it through email or post it to a web site.
Depending on the type of malicious code, you may infect your computer
by just opening the file.
When corrupting files, attackers often take advantage of
vulnerabilities that they discover in the software. These
vulnerabilities may allow attackers to insert and execute malicious
scripts or code, sometimes without being detected. Sometimes the
vulnerability involves a combination of certain files (such as a
particular piece of software running on a particular operating system)
or only affects certain versions of a software program.
What problems can malicious files cause?
There are various types of malicious code, including viruses, worms,
and Trojan horses (see Why is Cyber Security a Problem? for more
information). However, the range of consequences varies even within
these categories. The malicious code may be designed to perform one or
more functions, including:
_________________________________________________________________ Author: Mindi McDowell. _________________________________________________________________ Courtesy of US-CERT, a government organization.
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By Peter B. Martin
| Many people, owing to good intentions, think that the Middle East is ready for democracy; they are in for a disappointment. The populations of Egypt, Tunisia and Libya overthrew their autocrats, while the people of Syria and Yemen are still struggling to do the same. But it is one thing to unhorse a despotic ruler and another to achieve democracy.
Someone with undeniable wit once declared, “The great thing about democracy is that it gives every voter a chance to do something stupid.” Monitoring the events that have taken place in Egypt and Tunisia since their respective revolutions, such an observation seems more valid than one would anticipate.
The scenario many of these countries are now facing in their post Arab Spring is a rerun of the violence that has been on-going following the demise of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, where one religion or tribe assails another. Arab states have no historical foundation or awareness of an independent self-government; their heritage is a Sharia state and tribal rule.
Take Tunisia as an example, it is one of the more westernized countries of the Maghreb, yet more than 90% of the people voted allowing the Islamist Ennahda Party to attain the most votes for a single party, winning 90 seats out of 217 in the Assembly. The Ennahda movement has a well-documented history of violence but today it appears to some to have mollified their political/religious stance during the run-up to the elections.
Back to the stoning age In the first round of elections in Egypt the Freedom and Justice party won 36.8 % of the votes and the Nour party won 24.4%. Maybe not now, but in the near future, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party could usurp the peoples’ revolution, particularly if they ever align with the ultraconservative Nour Party. Nour is made up of repressive Salafis, who wish to bring back Shariah law, where among other things, women have no rights, alcohol is banned and where adultery is punished by stoning. The Egyptian economy is in a sorry state; unemployment is increasing day to day, to some extent because of the crippled tourist industry and the fanatical religious and political violence that has not abated, generating just the conditions necessary for an extremist takeover. Unless the army can hold on to control, it is not beyond the realm of imagination or reason, even after their Arab Spring, to envision the Egyptian people tolerating extremists controlling their nation, when 82% favor stoning for adultery; 84% are in favor of the death penalty Islamic apostates and 75% would approve of “Senior religious scholars” who would have the power to overturn laws that do not conform to the Koran. The calculus of democracy in the Middle East is at best problematic. Democracy and freedom are interwoven; freedom supplants ancient hatreds and paves the way for a lasting peace among peoples. However, one of the foundations of a democracy is trust, trust among the population that makes up a nation. And in the Middle East, where religious factions and tribes are so often adversaries, that trust is almost nonexistent; passion repeatedly overrules logic and thereby fuels oppression. Therefore, because of the tradition of distrust and their inordinate reliance on religion to control their lives, for the foreseeable future much of the Middle East is destined to be ruled by fundamentalists, with the aftermath of their revolutions ultimately resembling a softer version of Iran recycled. Courtesy of Specialized Consulting Services Network Affiliate Peter B. Martin in Toulouse, France.
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