Zombie alert!
Not all zombies are “pet project” bills in the California legislature that keep coming back year after year (after being killed) to prevent elected officials from doing their jobs (oh, that would be THE BUDGET, among other things)!
Some Zombies are personal computers, chiefly running Windows. And there are more of them than you could find in a WHOLE FESTIVAL of B-movie horror flicks. According to a report (PDF) released today from the security vendor, McAfee, 12 million NEW computers have been hijacked since January with a variety of new malware. These new computers represent a 50% increase in the number of “zombie” computers since 2008!
The United States now hosts the world’s largest percentage (18%) of infected computers! Why not? Windows was invented here! 
While not minimizing the threat from the Conficker worm (1, 2), McAfee also points to dangers from the Vundo Trojan Horse. Then there is the Koobface virus that has infected thousands of Facebook users…..
And then there is spam…. The shutdown of McColo, a major spam-hosting service provider, caused spam to decrease by 30%, but since then, spam has increased by 70%!
Meanwhile, Microsoft has announced a second wave of layoff notices, to 3000 employees. Microsoft still plans to hire 2000 to 3000 new employees in growing areas, reminiscent of several “revolving door” companies in Silicon Valley that I could name. Now, did they pick THE RIGHT ONES?
-Bill at Cheshire Cat Photo™
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