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Malware

Malware is a generic term used to describe malicious software such as: viruses, Trojan horses, malicious active content, etc.

Malware exist under different forms.

  • Some of the most common are listed below:

1. Viruses

A computer virus is a progam that has ability to replicate like biological viruses, computers viruses can spread quickly and are often difficult to eradicate. They can attach themselves to just about any type of executable file and are spread as files that are copied and spent from individual to individual.

Some viruses are intentionally destructive. E.g. Love Bug Virus.

2. Armored virus

This virus uses different methods to make tracing, reassembling and reverse engineering of its code more difficult. E.g. Whale virus.

3. Master boot sector virus

Master boot viruses infect the master boot sector of hard disks, though they spread through the boot record of floppy disk. The virus stays in memory, waiting for the

DOS to access a floppy disk. It then infects the boot record on each floppy disk DOS accesses.

4. Resident virus

A resident virus loads into memory and remains inactive until a trigger event. When the event occurs the virus activates, either infecting a file or a disk, or causing other consequences. All boot viruses are resident viruses and so are the most common file viruses.

5. Self-garbling virus

A self-garbling virus attempts to hide from anti-virus software from garbling its own code. When these virus spread, they change the way their code is encoded so anti-virus software cannot find them.

6. Logic bomb or time bomb

A logic bomb is a type of virus that executes itself under specific conditions. Triggers for logic bombs can include a change in a file, by a particular series of keystrokes, at a specific time or date. E.g. 'Time bomb' in "Microsoft's Visual Studio.Net Beta 2" causes the product to expire July 31, 2001.

7. Malicious code

A piece of code designed to damage the system or the data it contains, or to prevent the system from being used in its normal manner.

8. Worm

A computer worm is a self replicating computer program, similar to a computer virus. Unlike viruses, however, worms self propagate and so do not require other programs or documents to spread. Worms typically spread through email or other file transmission capabilities found on networked computers. E.g. Nachi (alias Welchi, Welchia or MSblast.D).

9. Spyware

A program which is either installed on your computer while surfing the Internet or when you install free software downloaded on the Internet. It records and sends your personal information – includes marketing info (visited sites, list of your software, your interests, etc...) – without your knowledge to a remote recipient.

10. Keylogger or Keylogging Software

This is another method used to capture your personal information. The software can be installed in the background without you being aware, when you click on a link to a website or open an attachement in an e-mail. Once installed, it records everything you type including user ids, passwords and personal information such as Credit Card Numbers.

The information is then sent back to the site from where the software was downloaded. This is a very real risk when using public or shared computers such as those in Internet Cafés.

11. Trojan Horse

A non-replicating malicious program designed to appear harmless or even useful to the user, but, when executed, harms the user's system. Some software bundles containing malicious forms of spyware or other potentially unwanted software are considered to be Trojans, e g. Trojan.Downloader.Inor

Tips to Prevent Malware

  • Install a Firewall – A firewall is a hardware and/or software that is designed to be your first line of defence against unauthorized users accessing your system.

  • Install an Anti-virus and Antispyware software – AntiVirus software is designed in such a way they detect and remove harmful viruses before they can do any harm to your data and the computer.

  • Updated & Patched OS – Install periodic and critical updates to protect your PC against the latest known vulnerabilities, which could be exploited by viruses and other malwares.

  • Perform regular backup of your data and programs so that you can restore them in case of theft or if your computer crashes.

  • Secure your Browser (Internet Explorer) – There are many disadvantages to using Internet Explorer as your primary web browser, mostly security related (Active X and Active Scripting makes it relatively easy to install Malware on your computer without you knowing about it and the numerous issues/vulnerabilities that existed and still exist) and incomplete and incorrectly implemented core standards used for web authoring. Alternate browsers like Mozilla, Firefox and Opera are a lot more secure and are much more resistant to Malware installation attempts.

  • Secure your Email Client (Outlook Express) – Securing your email client is just one of the necessary steps to secure your system against Malware. In its default installation, Outlook Express does not offer adequate protection against viruses and other malwares.

  • Do not install peer to peer (P2P) software – P2P software allows users to locate, share and distribute information among workstations without connecting to a Central Server. Some common P2P softwares are Napster, Kazaa, Freenet and Gnutella. P2P software poses the following threats: bandwidth consumption, infringing of copyright, undermining of security policies, Trojan horse and virus distribution and disclosure of IP addresses.

  • Activate Real-time Spyware protection – Almost all Anti-Spyware programs offer real-time protection. With real-time protection enabled many known Malware programs can be blocked and eliminated before they are installed, helping to stop potential security leaks before a program can run.

  • Use ActiveX blocking software – SpywareBlaster is a prevention software that protects against ActiveX based Malware installation. It also protects against known tracking cookies being installed in Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and adds thousands of known Malware installing sites to the restricted sites zone of Internet Explorer.

  • Use Malware blocker (Internet Explorer) - It uses a block list in the form of a Windows Registry file to add thousands of known unwanted sites to Internet Explorer’s Restricted Sites security zone. This ensures the Websites on the block list are blocked from running ActiveX controls, Java applets, Active scripts or even set cookies or use pop-ups when you surf the net.

  • Use a HOSTS file – A custom made HOSTS file containing thousands of dubious URLs can be used to block all kinds of ads, Web bugs, cookies,etc., by stopping your computer from communicating with the ad servers. This way you may only block sites that serve unwanted content or any other site that you choose to block.