MALWARE THREATS

Malware (malicious software) is a type of program that combines malicious code with genuine application to perform unauthorized operations in such a way that it can take control of a system or cause damage.

Types of Malware

1. Trojan
2. Virus
3. Worm
4. Rootkits
5. Spyware
6. Ransomware
7. Adware
8. Backdoor

Trojan

A trojan is a malicious program, bound with a harmless application program or data in such a way that it can help an attacker gain control and cause damage to the targeted machine. Malware tries to steal victims’ confidential information and sends it back to the attacker.

Symptoms of Trojan Attack

• The computer browser is redirected to unknown
• Strange chat boxes appear on the computer
• Reversing the functions of the right and left mouse
• Abnormal activity by the modem, network adapter, or hard
• The account passwords
• The ISP complains to the target that your computer is performing unauthorized network
• An attacker can gain access to personal information about a target

Trojan Detection

• Scan for suspicious OPEN PORTS
• Scan for suspicious RUNNING PROCESSES
• Scan for suspicious DEVICE DRIVERS INSTALLED
• Scan for suspicious REGISTRY ENTRIES
• Scan for suspicious WINDOWS SERVICES
• Scan for suspicious STARTUP PROGRAMS
• Scan for suspicious NETWORK ACTIVITIES

Virus

VIRUS stands for Vital Information Resource Under Seize. The virus can self-replicate by producing a copy of itself and attaching it to another program, computer boot sector, or a document.

Creating a Virus using Batch file programming or bash commands

Batch file programming can be used to automate several jobs in the windows operating system, which means the repetitive tasks can be written in a file by the administrators to simplify the job just by running the file instead of executing the command separately.

Shell scripting performs a similar job in a Linux environment to automate the execution of simple commands. Hackers take advantage of batch or shell scripting knowledge to create dangerous viruses which can destroy data on a victim machine or can consume all the PC resources to make the PC either crash or slow down.

Worms

Worms are malicious programs that replicate and spread across the network connections independently without human restrictions to infect computers

 Rootkit

A rootkit is a malicious program that has the ability to hide its presence from the user (victim) and perform malicious activities to grant full access of the infected computer to the attacker.

Spyware

Spyware is a program that records user interaction with the computer, without their knowledge and sends them to the remote attackers over the internet. Spyware hides its process, files, and other objects to avoid detection and removal.

Ransomware

Ransomware is malware that can restrict access to computer system files and folders and demands an online ransom payment to the malware creator to remove the restrictions.

Adware

Adware is designed to display unwanted advertisements on the browser which redirects users’ search requests to malicious web pages that forces them to download malware onto their computers. Adware can also be used to collect users’ search habits.

Backdoor

A backdoor is a piece of code executed on a victim’s computer system by an attacker to bypass standard authentication and maintain secure unauthorized access to the remote desktop.

Suggestive Measures:

• Do not download email attachments received from unknown
• Block unnecessary ports running vulnerable
• Avoid downloading and executing applications from untrusted
• Restrict permissions within the desktop environment to prevent malicious applications
• Run host-based antivirus, firewall, and intrusion detection
• Manage local workstation file integrity through checksums, auditing, and port scanning.