Malware
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Malware
One of the topics in cybersecurity is malware. The latter is a contraction of malicious software. In simpler terms, malware is any piece of software that was written with undesirable intentions such as damaging the devices, stealing data, and generally causing harm. Such kind of components are usually created and utilized by hackers with the aim of making money and this can be done directly by themselves or by selling it to other people with the same intentions. This paper aims to outline the various types of malware and how to remove them and this includes viruses, worms, trojans, hybrids, ransomware, fileless malware, adware, malvertising, and spyware.
Virus is a common type of malware that is encountered by users of the system daily. However, it should be noted that many people confuse other forms of malware for a virus. The viruses operate in such a way that they modify other host files in such a manner that the files of the victims are executed. Given that there are various antivirus software in the market, pure computer viruses are not common in the present day. The main issue with the virus as a form of malware is that since it infects other files. This makes it very hard to clean it up because the malware has to be executed from the legitimate program.
The other form of malware, other than viruses, is worms. In its inception, worms came through emails and this is back in the 60s where the computers were affected by malicious worms that arrived as message attachments (Sirkosi, 2012). In such a case, a user of the system in a firm opening a wormed email would have the effect of having the whole firm affected by the malware. This claim is based on the fact that worms are self-replicating in that they are able to spread without the action of the end-user. This is unlike the viruses, which may need the intervention of the user to at least kick it off before it spreads to infect other files or users.
Trojan comes in as another malware. This kind of malware tends to come in in form of legitimate programs though they contain some malicious instructions. Trojans have been in existence for a while now even before the emergence of the virus malware. For it to accomplish its mission, a trojan has to be executed by the victim. This kind of malware is usually pushed on the users when they arrive on the infected websites, or at times use the email as their channel of movement. In most instances, trojans usually disguise themselves in form of a fake antivirus program, which pops claiming that the user of the system is affected, thus instructing such a person to run a predetermined program by it (Malin, Casey, & Aquilina, 2012). Unknowingly, the users end up swallowing the bait, thus falling victims of the Trojan attacks.
Ransomware is another common form of malware. Most of the malware programs are trojans, implying that they have to be spread through the use of social engineering techniques. Once they are executed in the system, they take minutes to attack the intended file, though some of them have adopted the approach of waiting and see. In this regard, the ransomware watches the activity of the user before determining when and where to attack. It should be noted that just like any other malware, ransomware can be prevented though the issue is that it is really hard to reverse the damage that such may cause without the use of a good validated backup.
Apart from ransomware, there is also the fileless malware. The latter is more of a description of how the malware exploits and persevere. The traditional malware usually operates in such a way that infects the new systems that utilize the file system. The fileless malware, once executed, do not use the files or the system in the files, but rather consider exploiting and spreading in memory only. However, the main issue with this kind of malware is that they are usually very hard to stop.
Adware is the other form of malware that is common in social media platforms. This kind of malware portrays itself in the form of a program that attempts to expose the end-user to some unwanted malicious advertising. In its simplest form, a malware may redirect the searches of the browsers to some look-alike pages containing other product promotions. Adware is usually confused with malvertising, which is the use of malicious advertisements or advertisement networks in covertly delivering the malware to user computers that are unsuspecting (Malin, Casey, & Aquilina, 2012). In this case, hackers use the technique of paying to place a legitimate advert. Therefore, when the user clicks on the legitimate ad, he or she is redirected to malicious websites.
Spyware comes in as another commonly experienced malware. This kind of attacking technique is usually used by people whose intention is to track the computer activities of their loved ones. The other way in which spyware is used, especially by hackers, is on logging the keystrokes of victims and gaining access to passwords along with intellectual property. It is noted that spyware is usually not hard to remove and this is because their intentions are not so ill. For instance, the intention of spyware is not as malicious as that of a backdoor trojan.
Last but not least, hybrid is the other form of malware. As the name suggests, this comes in as a combination of various malware. The common combination, in this case, is the trojan and worms and even the virus. In its initial stages of attack, the hybrid malware portrays itself as a trojan to the end-user after it is executed, and then attacks the whole system as a worm (Sirkosi, 2012). In order to get rid of this form of malware, one is supposed to remove the component that is controlling it from the memory, with the first step being the antimalware scan.
In conclusion, given the increased technological advancements, it is more likely for one to come across or rather fall victim to the attack by either of the malware. This is usually one of the most undesirable experiences for any user of the system. In order to effectively deal with the various malware, one has to be well trained in malware removal and forensics. These skills will be useful in backing up data when necessary, formatting the drive, as well as reinstalling the programs when malware is found on a computer.
References
Malin, C. H., Casey, E., & Aquilina, J. M. (2012). Malware forensics field guide for
Windows dystems [recurso electrónico]: Digital forensics field guides. Estados Unidos
: Syngress.
Sikorski, M. (2012). Practical malware analysis.