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The botnet responsible for the ongoing DDoS attacks on many U.S. Government websites is getting even uglier.  According to security researchers it has been programmed to turn on the computers it’s infected and encrypt and in some cases completely erase all their data.

What’s particularly disturbing is that most Korean citizens have ignored the government’s pleas and warnings to install or update anti-virus software.  Whether they simply don’t understand or think that because their computers are working fine they couldn’t possibly be infected is unknown.  What is known is that tens of thousands of Koreans whose computers are part of the botnet responsible for the attacks are going to turn on their computers and get a nasty surprise.

No one knows who’s behind the attacks which have hit just about every U.S. Government website, many major business sites here in the U.S. and South Korea and knocked the FTC site off line for a short time.  Experts say the attack is not particularly sophisticated so it could be anyone from a low level hacker to a high tech cybercrime gang trying to confuse authorities.

I’m amazed that some South Koreans are ignoring the call to install or update their anti-virus software.  People who either don’t understand or don’t think it could ever happen to them are the reason cybercrime is a thriving underground economy.

Read [PCWorld]