Types of Malware (malicious programs )
Malware can be subdivided in the following types:
1. Trojan. Trojan is one of the most complicated threats among all. Most of the popular banking threats come from the Trojan family such as Zeus and SpyEye. It has the ability to hide itself from antivirus detection and steal important banking data to compromise your bank account. If the Trojan is really powerful, it can take over your entire security system as well. As a result, a Trojan can cause many types of damage starting from your own computer to your online account.
2. Virus (Vital information under siege). Looking at the technology 10 years back, Virus is something really popular. It is a malicious program where it replicates itself and aim to only destroy a computer. The ultimate goal of a virus is to ensure that the victim’s computer will never be able to operate properly or even at all. It is not so popular today because Malware today is designed to earn money over destruction. As a result, Virus is only available for people who want to use it for some sort of revenge purpose.
3. Worms (Write once read many). One of the most harmless threats where it is program designed only to spread. It does not alter your system to cause you to have a nightmare with your computer, but it can spread from one computer to another computer within a network or even the internet. The computer security risk here is, it will use up your computer hard disk space due to the replication and took up most of your bandwidth due to the spread.
4. Spyware. Is a Malware which is designed to spy on the victim’s computer. If you are infected with it, probably your daily activity or certain activity will be spied by the spyware and it will find itself a way to contact the host of this malware. Mostly, the use of this spyware is to know what your daily activity is so that the attacker can make use of your information. Such as if you browse on sex toys for a week every day, the attacker will try to come out with a sex toy scam to cheat on your money.
5. Scareware. Scareware is something that plant into your system and immediately inform you that you have hundreds of infections which you don’t have. The idea here is to trick you into purchasing a bogus anti-malware where it claims to remove those threats. It is all about cheating your money but the approach is a little different here because it scares you so that you will buy.
6. Keylogger. Something that keeps a record of every keystroke you made on your keyboard. Keylogger is a very powerful threat to steal people’s login credential such as username and password. It is also usually a sub-function of a powerful Trojan.
7. Adware. Is a form of threat where your computer will start popping out a lot of advertisement. It can be from non-adult materials to adult materials because any ads will make the host some money. It is not really harmful threat but can be pretty annoying
8. Backdoor. Backdoor is not really a Malware, but it is a form of method where once a system is vulnerable to this method, attacker will be able to bypass all the regular authentication service. It is usually installed before any virus or Trojan infection because having a backdoor installed will ease the transfer effort of those threats.
9. Dialer. This threat is no longer popular today but looking at the technology 10 years back or more where we still access the internet using a dial-up modem, it is quite a popular threat. What it does is it will make use of your internet modem to dial international numbers which are pretty costly. Today, this type of threat is more popular on Android because it can make use of the phone call to send SMS to premium numbers.
10. Dropper. Looking at the name, a Dropper is designed to drop into a computer and install something useful to the attacker such as Malware or Backdoor. There are two types of Dropper where one is to immediately drop and install to avoid Antivirus detection. Another type of Dropper is it will only drop a small file where this small file will auto trigger a download process to download the Malware.
11. Fake AV. Fake Antivirus threat is a very popular threat among Mac user about 10 months ago. Due to the reason that Mac user seldom faces a virus infection, scaring them with message which tells them that their computer is infected with virus is pretty useful where it results them into purchasing a bogus antivirus which does nothing.
12. Phishing. A fake website which is designed to look almost like the actual website is a form of phishing attack. The idea of this attack is to trick the user into entering their username and password into the fake login form which serves the purpose of stealing the identity of the victim. Every form sent out from the phishing site will not go to the actual server, but the attacker controlled server.
13. Bluesnarfing & Bluejacking. Bluesnarfing is all about having an unauthorized access to a specific mobile phones, laptop, or PDA via Bluetooth connection. By having such unauthorized access, personal stuff such as photos, calender, contacts and SMS will all be revealed and probably even stolen. Bluejacking is also uses the Bluetooth technology but it is not as serious as Bluesnarfing. What it does is it will connect to your Bluetooth device and send some message to another Bluetooth device. It is not something damaging to your privacy or device system compared to the Bluesnarfing threat.
14. SQL Injection. SQL injection does not infect the end users directly. It is more towards infecting a website which is vulnerable to this attack. What it does is it will gain unauthorized access to the database and the attacker can retrieve all the valuable information stored in the database.
15. Pharming. Pharming works more or less like phishing but it is a little tricky here. There are two types of pharming where one of it is DNS poisoning where your DNS is being compromised and all your traffic will be redirected to the attacker’s DNS. The other type of pharming is to edit your HOST file where even if you typed www.google.com on your web browser, it will still redirect you to another site. One thing similar is that both are equally dangerous.
16. Virus Document. Virus today can be spread through document file as well especially PDF documents. Last time, people will only advice you not to simply execute an EXE file but in today’s world with today’s technology, document file should also be avoided. It is best if you use an online virus scanner to scan first before opening any single file which you feel it is suspicious.
17. Browser Hijackers. A browser hijacker uses the Trojan Malware to take control of the victim’s web browsing session. It is extremely dangerous especially when the victim is trying to send some money via online banking because that is the best time for the hijacker to alter the destination of the bank account and even amount.
18.Rootkit. Rootkit is a malicious software that is activated each time your systemboots up. Rootkits are difficult to detect because they are activated before your system's Operating System has completely booted up. A rootkit often allows the installation of hidden files, processes, hidden user accounts, and more in the systems OS. Sometimes Rootkit may also be the cause for Blue screen error
19. Jokes: software that does not harm your computer but displays messages that this harm has already been caused, or is going to be caused on some conditions. This software often warns user about not existing danger, e.g. display messages about hard disc formatting (though no formatting is really happening), detect viruses in not infected files and etc.
20. Mousetrapping. I am not too sure whether you had encountered a Mousetrapping Malware before where what it does is it will trap your web browser to a particular website only. If you try to type another website, it will automatically redirect you back. If you try clicking forward/backward of the navigation button, it will also redirect you back. If you try to close your browser and re-open it, it will set the homepage to that website and you can never get out of this threat unless you remove it.
21. PUP (potentially unwanted program). Program that is installed without express permission from the user and carries out actions or has characteristics that can reduce user control of privacy, confidentiality, use of computer resources, Eg :Webcake, Yontoo
Source: Wiki, Google
A-Z Listing of Threats & Risks: http://www.symantec.com/security_response/landing/azlisting.jsp
1. Trojan. Trojan is one of the most complicated threats among all. Most of the popular banking threats come from the Trojan family such as Zeus and SpyEye. It has the ability to hide itself from antivirus detection and steal important banking data to compromise your bank account. If the Trojan is really powerful, it can take over your entire security system as well. As a result, a Trojan can cause many types of damage starting from your own computer to your online account.
2. Virus (Vital information under siege). Looking at the technology 10 years back, Virus is something really popular. It is a malicious program where it replicates itself and aim to only destroy a computer. The ultimate goal of a virus is to ensure that the victim’s computer will never be able to operate properly or even at all. It is not so popular today because Malware today is designed to earn money over destruction. As a result, Virus is only available for people who want to use it for some sort of revenge purpose.
3. Worms (Write once read many). One of the most harmless threats where it is program designed only to spread. It does not alter your system to cause you to have a nightmare with your computer, but it can spread from one computer to another computer within a network or even the internet. The computer security risk here is, it will use up your computer hard disk space due to the replication and took up most of your bandwidth due to the spread.
4. Spyware. Is a Malware which is designed to spy on the victim’s computer. If you are infected with it, probably your daily activity or certain activity will be spied by the spyware and it will find itself a way to contact the host of this malware. Mostly, the use of this spyware is to know what your daily activity is so that the attacker can make use of your information. Such as if you browse on sex toys for a week every day, the attacker will try to come out with a sex toy scam to cheat on your money.
5. Scareware. Scareware is something that plant into your system and immediately inform you that you have hundreds of infections which you don’t have. The idea here is to trick you into purchasing a bogus anti-malware where it claims to remove those threats. It is all about cheating your money but the approach is a little different here because it scares you so that you will buy.
6. Keylogger. Something that keeps a record of every keystroke you made on your keyboard. Keylogger is a very powerful threat to steal people’s login credential such as username and password. It is also usually a sub-function of a powerful Trojan.
7. Adware. Is a form of threat where your computer will start popping out a lot of advertisement. It can be from non-adult materials to adult materials because any ads will make the host some money. It is not really harmful threat but can be pretty annoying
8. Backdoor. Backdoor is not really a Malware, but it is a form of method where once a system is vulnerable to this method, attacker will be able to bypass all the regular authentication service. It is usually installed before any virus or Trojan infection because having a backdoor installed will ease the transfer effort of those threats.
9. Dialer. This threat is no longer popular today but looking at the technology 10 years back or more where we still access the internet using a dial-up modem, it is quite a popular threat. What it does is it will make use of your internet modem to dial international numbers which are pretty costly. Today, this type of threat is more popular on Android because it can make use of the phone call to send SMS to premium numbers.
10. Dropper. Looking at the name, a Dropper is designed to drop into a computer and install something useful to the attacker such as Malware or Backdoor. There are two types of Dropper where one is to immediately drop and install to avoid Antivirus detection. Another type of Dropper is it will only drop a small file where this small file will auto trigger a download process to download the Malware.
11. Fake AV. Fake Antivirus threat is a very popular threat among Mac user about 10 months ago. Due to the reason that Mac user seldom faces a virus infection, scaring them with message which tells them that their computer is infected with virus is pretty useful where it results them into purchasing a bogus antivirus which does nothing.
12. Phishing. A fake website which is designed to look almost like the actual website is a form of phishing attack. The idea of this attack is to trick the user into entering their username and password into the fake login form which serves the purpose of stealing the identity of the victim. Every form sent out from the phishing site will not go to the actual server, but the attacker controlled server.
13. Bluesnarfing & Bluejacking. Bluesnarfing is all about having an unauthorized access to a specific mobile phones, laptop, or PDA via Bluetooth connection. By having such unauthorized access, personal stuff such as photos, calender, contacts and SMS will all be revealed and probably even stolen. Bluejacking is also uses the Bluetooth technology but it is not as serious as Bluesnarfing. What it does is it will connect to your Bluetooth device and send some message to another Bluetooth device. It is not something damaging to your privacy or device system compared to the Bluesnarfing threat.
14. SQL Injection. SQL injection does not infect the end users directly. It is more towards infecting a website which is vulnerable to this attack. What it does is it will gain unauthorized access to the database and the attacker can retrieve all the valuable information stored in the database.
15. Pharming. Pharming works more or less like phishing but it is a little tricky here. There are two types of pharming where one of it is DNS poisoning where your DNS is being compromised and all your traffic will be redirected to the attacker’s DNS. The other type of pharming is to edit your HOST file where even if you typed www.google.com on your web browser, it will still redirect you to another site. One thing similar is that both are equally dangerous.
16. Virus Document. Virus today can be spread through document file as well especially PDF documents. Last time, people will only advice you not to simply execute an EXE file but in today’s world with today’s technology, document file should also be avoided. It is best if you use an online virus scanner to scan first before opening any single file which you feel it is suspicious.
17. Browser Hijackers. A browser hijacker uses the Trojan Malware to take control of the victim’s web browsing session. It is extremely dangerous especially when the victim is trying to send some money via online banking because that is the best time for the hijacker to alter the destination of the bank account and even amount.
18.Rootkit. Rootkit is a malicious software that is activated each time your systemboots up. Rootkits are difficult to detect because they are activated before your system's Operating System has completely booted up. A rootkit often allows the installation of hidden files, processes, hidden user accounts, and more in the systems OS. Sometimes Rootkit may also be the cause for Blue screen error
19. Jokes: software that does not harm your computer but displays messages that this harm has already been caused, or is going to be caused on some conditions. This software often warns user about not existing danger, e.g. display messages about hard disc formatting (though no formatting is really happening), detect viruses in not infected files and etc.
20. Mousetrapping. I am not too sure whether you had encountered a Mousetrapping Malware before where what it does is it will trap your web browser to a particular website only. If you try to type another website, it will automatically redirect you back. If you try clicking forward/backward of the navigation button, it will also redirect you back. If you try to close your browser and re-open it, it will set the homepage to that website and you can never get out of this threat unless you remove it.
21. PUP (potentially unwanted program). Program that is installed without express permission from the user and carries out actions or has characteristics that can reduce user control of privacy, confidentiality, use of computer resources, Eg :Webcake, Yontoo
Source: Wiki, Google
A-Z Listing of Threats & Risks: http://www.symantec.com/security_response/landing/azlisting.jsp
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