One of the most dangerous threats ever, a computer worm known as "Conficker," is spreading through the Internet right now. By some estimates, 10 million computers have been infected worldwide.
With one click, the worm's creator can instruct it to suck sensitive data, like bank passwords and account numbers, out of millions of computers, or launch a massive spam attack to clog up the works.
The newest targets of worms are social networking sites.
He says a worm can crack into a Facebook account, like Morley's, and send a message to anyone on his friends list.
It's a message a friend or colleague, like Stahl, would be sure to open since it comes from a trusted friend. Stahl took the bait and clicked on what looked like Morley's video link.
"Something looks a little off," Trilling remarked. "You're already infected."
As Trilling demonstrated on a second screen, the hacker "owned" Stahl's online movements. "From here on out, everything you do, gonna show up on the hacker's machine," he explained.
So when Stahl typed her username and password into a bank Web site, it appeared instantaneously on the hacker’s screen, along with her bank account details.
"Every single keystroke you hit, in fact, if you make a mistake and hit a backspace, that shows up in the window," Trilling explained.
The hacker then followed her around, as she browsed the Internet from CBS News to Amazon.com.
"So, if I buy something, they’re gonna have my credit card," Stahl remarked.
"Everything you type in, your address, your credit card, it’s all gonna show up in that window," Trilling warned.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/27/60minutes/main4897053.shtml
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