Beware of Zombies

Dear mouse,

You do not have to be a geek to have a love affair with a zombie. It may be with you, 8 hours a day and another 2 to 4 hours in your own bedroom or study room in the evening.

Operation Spam Zombies

Hacker-controlled computers are on the rise, according to research.

The average number of new computer zombies created each day in May increased almost 10 percent from April, according to a report released Thursday.

Zombies are personal computers controlled remotely by hackers. An average of 172,000 computer users lose control of their machines each day, according to a report by anti-spam company CipherTrust.

The zombie computers can be made to attack web servers, collect personal information, or send spam emails.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission went on the z ombie warpath Tuesday, announcing a campaign to educate Internet Service Providers (ISPs) on anti-zombie techniques.

The commission has called on more than 3,000 ISPs to limit the rate at which emails may be sent and be vigilant for users who send abnormal amounts of emails. It has also asked ISPs to help their customers understand the threats and to provide them with zombie-killing software upon request.

The Ca t