Counting 10 Malware Terms

Many people refer to malware as a virus, but from a professional standpoint, this is not accurate. You may have heard many words beyond the scope of the virus: malware, worms, Trojan horses, root access tools, keylogger tools, spyware, and so on. So what exactly are the meanings of these words?

These terms are not only used among hackers, but are also widely used in major news, cyber security issues, and technology horror. Knowing them can help us know the dangers of this.

Malicious software

"Malicious software" is referred to as "malware". Many people use "viruses" to explain this type of software, but specifically, viruses are only one of these. "Malware" includes all the software that can cause harm. Some common scenarios are listed below.

1, virus

Let's talk about viruses first. A virus is a malware that replicates itself and infects other files, just like a biological virus, which infects cells first and then uses them to reproduce.

Viruses can do many things. For example, it can hide itself, steal passwords, Force pop-up ads, and restart the computer. These are not enough to call a virus. Viruses are called viruses because of their ability to reproduce. When a virus is running on a computer, it infects programs in the machine. If the infected program is run on another computer, the machine will also be infected. For example, a virus may infect a U disk, when u disk inserted into a computer, and run the infected program, the virus will be infected to the computer, and then will infect more program files, so, the infection will continue indefinitely.

2. Worm virus

Worms are similar to viruses, except that they are transmitted in different ways. Worms spread through the network, and viruses are transmitted by infecting files or by artificially moving virus files. The Shockwave worm and the vibrating wave worm are typical examples. They're in Windows? The reason for this is that Windows is spreading very fast between XP systems. There is no secure protection system in the XP system, and system services are completely exposed to the network. The worm can get into the XP system service from the network, find the vulnerabilities in the system, and start infecting the system. It can then replicate itself using the infected computer. Although the virus is now rare in Windows systems with the default firewall, they are still different ways to spread. For example, a worm can propagate itself to all the people in the Address book through the e-mail addresses of infected users.

Like a virus, a worm can achieve many goals once it has successfully infected the computer. The main purpose is to continue replication propagation.

3. Trojan Horse

A Trojan horse can disguise itself as a normal file. When someone downloads and tries to open it, the Trojan horse runs in the background and opens a portal that allows third parties to access it. Trojan horses can do more tasks, such as monitoring computers and downloading malicious code to the computer. It can also download a large number of malicious software to your computer.

The characteristic of a Trojan horse is its formative process. It is disguised as a usable file, and when it is run, the Trojan Horse runs in the background, and the hacker is able to access the computer in which it is recruited. But it does not replicate and spread through the web like viruses and worms, and they may be spread in pirated software.

4, Spy Software

Spyware is also a malware that monitors users without their knowledge. Different spyware collects different data. Malware can be viewed as spyware, such as a Trojan horse, a malicious spyware that monitors the user's keyboard for stealing financial data.

More "legitimate" spyware will bind to free software and monitor users ' internet habits. The authors of these software sell the collected data to advertisers for profiteering.

5, Advertising software

Forced advertising is often stored in spyware. Any type of software can contain ads, and occasionally pop-up prompts. Software that contains ads in a program is generally not known as malware. Malicious adware is always arbitrarily implanted into the system in a variety of ads. They can generate pop-up ads that make it impossible for users to do anything else. They can even put ads in the Web page that users are browsing.

Advertising software to get the user's internet habits, can be more effective pop-up users interested in advertising. In Windows systems, adware can generally be accepted by users, as it is bundled with normal software, compared to other malicious software. For example, the use of Oracle Java to know the toolbar, users see it as advertising software.

6. Keyboard recording Tools

The Malware Keylogger tool is also run in the background, and it can record all keyboard operations. These actions include user name, password, credit card number, and other sensitive data. The data will then be sent to the hacker's server for analysis to find useful data.

Other malware can also have this capability. A merchant can monitor a commercial operation through this software, and both spouses can monitor each other through the software.

7, Zombie Network

Zombie Network is a relatively large network, the network of computers are under the control of network developers. Each computer is infected with a zombie program by a particular malware.

Once the zombie software infects the computer, it creates a channel on the computer and the control server and waits for the controller to release the instructions. For example, it can be a DDoS attack. If the controller wants to launch an attack on a website, all the zombies will immediately attack the site, and these tens of thousands of attacks can paralyze the server.

Botnet makers sell their web portals to other manufacturers, and hackers can use them for profit.

8. Root Access Rights tool

The root access tool is a malicious software designed to obtain the highest privileges of the system and to evade security procedures and user checks. For example, the tool can be loaded and deep into the system before the system is run, modifying system functions to avoid detection of security procedures. It can also be hidden in Task Manager.

The core of the root access tool is that once it runs, it can be hidden.

9. Blackmail Software

Extortion software is a hijacked computer or file malicious software, the resources were hijacked, the general requirements of the user to pay a certain ransom. Some blackmail software makes it impossible for a computer to use, then pops up a window and asks for money to continue using it. But the software is easily detected by antivirus software.

To cryptolocker this blackmail software usually turns the contents of the file into a bunch of passwords, and then asks for a ransom to recover the file. In the absence of a file backup, encountering this kind of software is very bad.

Most malware is driven by interest, and extortion software is a classic example. Blackmail software does not destroy computers, it does not delete files, it is only for money. Hijack some files and get quick entries.

So, what will antivirus software be called "antivirus"? Because most people equate malware with a virus. In fact, antivirus software not only can protect against virus, but also can prevent all kinds of malicious software. Specifically, it should be called "anti-malware" or "protection software."