Most Common Malware
What is Adware?
Adware refers to computer programs that can display unwanted advertisements on a user’s device, collect marketing information, and redirect searches.
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What is Antivirus?
Antivirus software protect devices against a wide range of malware and cyberthreats, including viruses, keyloggers, worms, adware, spyware, rootkits, spam, and more. The best antiviruses protect both from known malware, by recognizing their digital signature, and unknown malware, by detecting their behavioral pattern.
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What is a Botnet?
Botnets, also known as zombie armies, comprise of 1000’s of hijacked devices that can be used to stage DDoS attacks (explained below). However, they can also be used to steal information, mine cryptocurrencies, and send spam. What makes these zombie armies especially dangerous is their combined computing power.
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What is a Computer Exploit?
The term computer exploit describes a wide array of programs that can exploit vulnerabilities in specific software. By exploiting these vulnerabilities, one can gain remote access to a foreign device or cause irreparable system damage. In case the exploit targets a previously unknown vulnerability, it’s called a zero-day exploit.
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What is a Computer Virus?
This type of malware is among the most common because it can self-replicate. Successful infections can be costly to the victims and more than just an annoying waste of resources. Viruses can corrupt important information, help carry out DDoS attacks, spread propaganda, cause system-wide failures, and much more.
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What is a Computer Worm?
The term computer worm refers to malware that can spread through networks and can be used to install a backdoor. This means that with a computer worm, someone can gain access to a foreign system and use that system to launch large-scale attacks, such as DDoS attack. A computer worm can also render an affected system unreliable or unstable because of its ability to affect the computing power.
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What is Computer Hacking?
Computer hacking is the practice of gaining unauthorized access into a foreign system using a variety of software or hardware tools. It can be done with malicious intent but also for good. Black hat hackers will often use a variety of exploits or malware to disrupt the regular flow of information or to gain financial advantage. When used for good, hacking involves detecting and patching up vulnerabilities and coming up with better security protocols for firewalls and antiviruses.
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What is Cybercrime?
Cybercrime is a category of crimes that involve the use of computers, networks, mobile devices, or telecommunication services. Cybercrime has many subtypes. And as our society digitizes, the overlap between regular crime and cybercrime continues to fade.
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What is a DDoS Attack?
Some cyberattacks flood a server or network with internet traffic in the hope of either slowing it down, or taking it down entirely. This type of attack is known as a DDoS attack or distributed denial-of-service attack, and is usually executed through a botnet.
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What is Identity Theft?
Identity theft implies using someone else’s identity to gain financial benefit at the expense of the victim. In possession of a passport and/or social security details, cybercriminals can use it to take out loans in the victim’s name, clean out their existing accounts, open new ones, and so on.
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What is a Keylogger?
A keylogger is used to steal information by recording the keystrokes on a keyboard to uncover passwords and usernames. However, it can also be used by parents and employers by allowing them to monitor the online activity of their children and employees. Furthermore, keyloggers also have a big role in cognitive writing research.
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What is Malware?
All examples in this list are some form of malware. Each has a specific goal and use. But generally speaking, most are dedicated to the tracking, stealing, or corrupting of data. As the term is so broad, anti-malware’s defense systems must be equally varied.
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What is Phishing?
Phishing attacks attempt to fraud people out of their personal information by assuming the identity of a trustworthy entity. Most attacks of this kind are facilitated by using fake websites and redirects from corrupted attachments or well-placed links. Of course, more traditional means of telecommunication can be used for phishing too, such as phone spoofing.
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What is Ransomware?
Malware that has the ability to encrypt files, programs and even entire networks, is called ransomware. It is commonly used in various blackmailing scenarios and often comes with a threat of making compromising information public unless the demands are met. A Trojan horse can sometimes help to spread ransomware because of its ability to mask itself as a legitimate file.
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What is a Rootkit?
A rootkit is designed to give remote access to a foreign device. It often carries a negative connotation because it is frequently used with malicious intent. However, rootkits can also be used to help people as they can offer remote access to trusted technical support.
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What is a Scam?
Most fraudulent schemes, targeted at acquiring sensitive information, money, or tricking someone into performing certain services, are known as scams. Most scams committed today are done over the internet because it’s very easy to target multiple individuals at the same time. One of the oldest and perhaps the most cited, is the Nigerian prince scam that has many variations and can still be found to this day.
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What is Social Engineering?
Social engineering can come in many forms. But in essence, it is the psychological manipulation of people, convincing them to reveal confidential information or take actions that aren’t in their own best interest.
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What is Spam?
Sending unwanted messages in bulk is known as spamming. This is a tactic used to trick people into giving up sensitive information. And it’s also commonly used in aggressive marketing campaigns. Spam is usually sent via a botnet because of its massive reach, superior computing power, and relatively low cost.
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What is Email, IP, or DNS Spoofing?
Email spoofing is the creation of fake email accounts that impersonate legitimate entities, like PayPal. IP spoofing is used to either hide the online activity of a certain device or to gain access to a restricted network. DNS spoofing is used to redirect traffic from legitimate websites, in order to either spread malware or trick people into giving up personal information.
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What is Spyware?
Spyware monitors, tracks, and transmits data. System monitors, tracking cookies, keyloggers, and anything else that can steal and transmit confidential information without the user’s consent falls under spyware. Despite its reputation, spyware is not always used with malicious intent. These covert programs may run invisibly in the background, but they can also be used by employers to assess company productivity or employee loyalty.
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What is a SQL Injection Attack?
SQL injection attacks are used to either modify data in a database or to spoof an identity. It’s an attack that’s commonly used to disrupt or steal from marketplaces, online vendors, and pretty much any sites that keep a SQL database. These attack work by embedding malicious SQL code into the entry fields of a database.
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What is a Trojan Horse?
A Trojan horse tricks a user into downloading and executing a malicious file by pretending to be something else. Frequently it’s disguised as an email attachment. It’s different from a computer virus as it doesn’t self-replicate but requires the manual action of the user.
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What is a Zero-Day Exploit?
The most dangerous type of computer exploit is known as a zero-day exploit. It refers to exploits that take advantage of vulnerabilities that come with new software or updates. As these vulnerabilities are not known to anyone but the cybercriminal who detected them, they are incredibly difficult to defend against.
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