• BBC News, Friday, June 15, 2007 11:03 AM

It's one of the Web's biggest security problems that nobody's talks: The FBI is starting to tackle the Web-wide problem of computer zombies. Unbeknownst to most victims, hackers infiltrate users' computers issuing a directive to go to a given Web site. Once the hacker has created a network of zombies, he directs each of them to a single Web site to overwhelm their servers, which sometimes leads to a shutdown. Called a denial of service attack, the FBI says these zombie or bot armies, which can also be used to spread spam or steal user IDs, are "a growing threat to national security."

A new ongoing initiative called Operation Bot Roast aims to contact users whose computers have been hijacked; it has already reached 1 million PC owners known to be part of one bot network or another. "The majority of victims are not even aware that their computer has been compromised or their personal information exploited," said James Finch, assistant director of the FBI's Cyber Division.

The most common ways consumers become part of bot networks is by opening email attachments containing a virus or by visiting a booby-trapped page. The BBC said telltale signs of a hijacked computer are a machine that runs slowly or an email outbox full of mail a user did not send. Sometimes users are sent email saying they are sending spam.

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