Q. My computer was attacked over the weekend by a Trojan. I guess I let my guard down. But after spending 6 hours and a lot of money getting rid of it I want to report this. Who do I go to?
A. Unfortunately, viruses, spyware and trojans (collectively known as malware) are simply a fact of life when using your computer to access the Internet. To complicate matters, those responsible for orchestrating these attacks are very adept at covering their tracks.
Any information you have about where the attack originated from is probably going to be useless in identifying the culprit as it likely came from a computer that doesn’t even belong to the attacker.
Many anti-virus and anti-spyware programs will report the details of any infection to the manufacturer automatically if you allowed for this during the setup. This information is used by these companies to help improve their detection and removal, but it is not reported to the authorities.
If you feel you have a valid complaint and enough information to identify the attacker, you can submit a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission. Keep in mind that the FTC does not resolve individual consumer complaints. What they do is collect the information which allows them to detect patterns of wrong-doing, and may lead to investigations and prosecutions.
Personally, I don’t feel that tracking and reporting these Internet bad guys is a reasonable use of my time. I just keep my system protected as best I can and keep on moving.
The only exception I would make is if this happens to a computer you use on a corporate network. If you see suspicious behavior you should report it to your IT department so they can make sure that their computers and network have not been compromised.