Getting in through the back door

BEWARE: The internet is a dangerous place.

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OPINION: Social networking is one of the wee gems to emerge from the wonderful world of the web but it's not without its dangers, writes Jillian Allison-Aitken in this week's Online.

Oh, yes, my innocent little weblings, there are some severely nasty people lurking online just waiting for a chance to sneak in a back door to your computer and steal your identity, empty your bank accounts, reformat your hard drive, sacrifice a chicken in your bathroom, get your cat pregnant and download Barry Manilow's entire back catalogue to your computer.

Be afraid, be very afraid.

Google Wave has taken the geek world by storm but has also attracted the attention of some of those nasty chicken-sacrificing, Barry Manilow-loving scammers.

Described as a real-time communication platform that combines aspects of email, instant messaging, wikis, web chat, social networking and project management in one in-browser client, Google Wave has created a real buzz.

Like Gmail in the early days, admission to the exclusive club is by invitation only, and those invitations have been limited.

Those nasty chicken-murdering types have taken to the net via forums and Twitter in an attempt to gather fresh victims. They are offering a file for download that they say will generate Google Wave invites. And it's free. Wow! And it's limited to just 200 people, so you'd better hurry.

But it's not a Google Wave invitation generator, it's actually malware that opens a back door to your computer.

You know, the back door they'll use to steal your stuff and get a little too friendly with your cat.

Facebook is also a regular target, with the latest email scam being the ''there's been a security breach, please reset your password'' ploy.

The emails have an attached .zip file that (no surprises here) contains a Trojan.

It's one of the three rules to live by:

1. Never open unexpected attachments
2. Always wear clean undies
3. Always blow on the pie

» Jillian Allison-Aitken is a senior staff member at The Southland Times and was named best internet and communications technology columnist at the 2008 Qantas Awards.

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