Malware is a big problem today. Everyday thousands of innocent people
are getting infected by different types of malware. The most common
types of malware today are viruses, worms and Trojans. In this chapter
we will discuss all the types of malware, and give you an example of a
windows trojan in use. The reason we will use Windows is because malware
is very rare in Linux and Mac computers.
Definitions
1. Viruses – Viruses cannot spread without the help of us humans.
They are like parasites because they need a host to attach themselves
to. The host is usually a legitimate looking program or file. Once this
program is launched, the virus is executed and infects other files on
your computer. Viruses can be very destructive. They can do damage to
your computer hardware, software and files. Viruses are spread through
the sharing of files and are many times sent within emails via
attachments.
2. Worms – A worm is a malicious program that can replicate itself
onto other computers on a network. Unlike a virus, worms don’t need a
human to be able to spread and infect systems. Once it infects a system,
it uses that system to send out other copies of itself to other random
systems attempting to infect them.
3. Trojan Horse – A trojan horse is a malicious program that can be
used to do silly things to a system like changing its desktop, mess with
the user interface, and take control of your mouse. It can also be used
for some serious things like accessing your data, erasing your files,
stealing your passwords, and capturing your keystrokes.
4. Logic Bombs – Logic bombs are usually pieces of code that are
programmed into a program that lie dormant until a certain time or until
a user does a certain action which causes it to be executed. When it is
triggered it performs a certain function that the program wasn’t
intended to do.
5. Bacteria – Bacteria make many copies of themselves and eventually
end up taking up all of the computers recourses such as all of its
processor power, memory and disk space. This results in the legitimate
user losing access to those resources.
6. Blended Threats – Blended threats combine all of the
characteristics of the above and use them along with system
vulnerabilities to spread and infect machines.
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