by Malware, or malicious software, infiltrates and gains control over a computer system or a mobile device to steal valuable information or damaged data. There are many types of malware, and they can complement each other when performing an attack.
What is a botnet?
A botnet (short for robot network) is made up of computers communicating with each other over the internet. A command and control center uses them to send spam, mount distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks (see below) and commit other crimes.
What is a rootkit?
A rootkit is a collection of programs that enable administrator-level access to a computer or computer network, thus allowing the attacker to gain root or privileged access to the computer and possibly other machines on the same network.
What is a worm?
A worm replicates itself over a computer network and performs malicious actions without guidance.
What is a Trojan Horse?
A trojan poses as or is embedded within, a legitimate program, but it is designed for malicious purposes, such as spying, stealing data, deleting files, expanding a botnet, and performing DDoS attacks.
What is a File Infector?
A file infector infects executable files (such as .exe) by overwriting them or inserting infected code that disables them.
What is a Remote-access trojan (RAT) ?
A backdoor/remote-access trojan (RAT) accesses a computer system or mobile device remotely. It can be installed by another piece of malware. It gives almost total control to the attacker, who can perform a wide range of actions, including:
- monitoring actions
- executing commands
- sending files and documents back to the attacker
- logging keystrokes
What is ransomware?
Ransomware stops users from accessing their devices and demands that they pay a ransom through certain online payment methods to regain access. A variant, police ransomware, uses law enforcement symbols to lend authority to the ransom message.
What is scareware?
Scareware is fake anti-virus software that pretends to scan and find malware/security threats on a user’s device so that they will pay to have it removed.
What is spyware?
Spyware is installed on a computer without its owner’s knowledge to monitor their activity and transmit the information to a third party.
What is adware?
Adware displays advertising banners or pop-ups that include code to track the user’s behavior on the internet.
