<aside> 💡 Malware is an umbrella term that describes a malicious program to seriously harm systems and data or gain unauthorized access to a network. Malware is a significant and expanding component of the cybercrime market because it performs unwanted and harmful functions on devices; thus it is important for readers to understand what malware is, the types of malware, how malware spreads and how to identify it in order to prevent from becoming potential victims.
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Malicious software, often known as malware, is an intrusive software malicious program created by cybercriminals. Although malware does not harm the physical hardware of systems or network equipment, cybercriminals distribute malware for many different reasons such as:
Spread malware
Block access
Delete Data
Track online activity
Steal data and computer resources
Steal customer credit card information
Perform denial-of-service attacks against other networks
Disseminate false information
Damage and destroy programmable devices, computers, servers or network
Malware is comparable to the human flu because it also interferes with normal functioning. However, there are no regular seasonal diseases for malware; therefore, there it is always “flu season.”
Anyone can be impacted by malicious software because cybercriminals do not differentiate between people or industries, including governmental entities. Cybercriminals employ a scattergun strategy in massive campaigns to uniformly disseminate their virus among the machines of small start-ups, small and medium sized enterprises and significant enterprises across all industries. However, focused attacks explicitly made for a single target or a particular business are much more treacherous than broad-based waves of strikes. In these situations, the assailants put a lot of work into planning and carrying out the attacks. For instance, the target's environment is carefully examined to find any network and system vulnerabilities, followed by the actual attack to gain access to networks and systems that house exceedingly valuable and highly sensitive data.
Some types of malicious software aim to frustrate victims or purposefully delete valuable data from affected devices. Other types of malware have more negative consequences, enabling thieves to steal identities or carry out financial fraud by stealing the user’s financial or personal information and sending it to another computer.
Instead of merely interfering with a device’s functions, spyware targets sensitive data that lurks in the background of a computer and secretly collects confidential information such as passwords, credit card numbers, and other sensitive information. Hackers use infection methods to propagate malware, including spam emails or software from dubious download sites. Keyloggers are a specific type of spyware that keep track of keystrokes and leak passwords and other private data.
Trojan dissimulates and conceals itself as harmless, legitimate, safe files and applications. Once the user downloads the virus, the Trojan virus will have access to sensitive data, allowing cybercriminals to edit, block or erase the data, which can be detrimental to the device’s functionality. Trojan viruses are not made to propagate themselves like viruses and worms.
Worm is a malicious program that autonomously and rapidly propagates on an infected system before multiplying and spreading exponentially through infected USB flash drives, email attachments, and even infected websites. Worms perform damaging operations such as deleting files, breaking hardware and software, or overburdening the system with unrelated information. Worms are named for how they infiltrate computer systems. Worms begin on one infected machine and work their way through the network, connecting to succeeding networks to propagate the infection, swiftly infecting networks of devices, impairing their functionality and causing data loss.
Viruses are not autonomous applications because viruses need user input to spread their dangerous code to other system files and boot regions. Malware is malicious code, whereas viruses are malicious code that spreads through networks and computers by attaching the malicious code to documents or files that support macros and waiting for an unaware user or an automated process to execute them. Like the flu virus, malware will swiftly and widely spread from host to host. Once downloaded, a virus will remain dormant until the file is opened and put to use. During this time, the virus will destroy systems' basic functionality, corrupt files, and prevent users from accessing their computers. Viruses are made to interfere with a system's functionality, leading to severe operational problems and data loss.