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Malware
How does Malware affect your PC?
How to protect your PC from Malwares?
Computer intruders such as Malware can cause heavy damage to the proper functioning of your organization which can eventually end up in a financial crisis. Once an intruder, subverts a part of the system which lacks security measures, accessing the features of that system is all the more effortless. As larceny happens in the real world, so does it happen in the cyber world. The group who does this varies by their style of action. These attackers are sometimes called hackers or crackers. Some are teenage crowd; whereas some are highly skilful with the aim of financial gain or spying. Therefore it is slightly complicated to know the intentions of any intruders or attackers.
What is a Malware?
Any software program developed with the sole intention of damaging your computer system is collectively known as Malware. The term is derived from malicious software. Malwares are malicious software programs that are threats to the entire computer security systems and are invoked without the user’s consent.
Malware comprises of computer virus, worms, Trojan horse, Spyware, some Adware, most rootkits and other dishonest software programs.
Malware can be categorized based on the purpose of attack:
Infectious malware:
The well known types of infectious malware are viruses and worms.
Malware in disguise:
Trojan Horses, Rootkits and Back doors belong to this category:
Trojan Horses: These are simply computer programs which are labeled as one and are intended to do something harmful. For example, they could come in the label of various games and once the program is run it performs its malicious acts.
Rootkits: They are also similar to Trojan horses, where the program in disguise enters the system directly and sticks on to the systems without being noticed by manipulating the host operating system.
Backdoor: As the name indicates, this is a method by which attackers create a pathway to access the system in the future. A typical way to escape the authentication processes. This technique is used to enable remote access to a system while still remaining hidden.
Malware for profit:
Spyware, Adware, Key loggers are some of the malware that is being used for financial benefit.
Spyware: These are software programs that sneaks into the system gets installed and takes partial charge of the system without the user’s knowledge and consent. The impact of the Spyware varies from accessing personal information, details on the websites surfed, installing additional software, changing the course of action of the web browsers, change the settings of the computer, to deleting data or other programs to slowing down the system and more. Spyware gets into the system via various techniques. It finds its way by piggybacking onto desirable softwares, it comes coupled with shareware or other downloads, it sometimes misleads the users by manipulating the security features and entering into the system via security holes in the Web browser.
Adware are yet another form of Spyware which usually affects the system via the internet. Adware are advertising supported software that has its vivacious presence in the internet. These are programs that attack your PC for profit, usually found along with free downloads or pop up ads, which deliberately gets installed in your system causing damage. Not all adwares are harmful.
Key loggers: These are programs which gets installed on to the system and traces the password details, credit card information etc., by copying down the user’s keystrokes. This leads to credit card fraud and other thefts in the cyber world.
There are also other means by which the computer criminals cause threat to your computer system. Some of the major ones being:
Vulnerability scanning and security exploiting
Once your system is connected to any network, it opens a possibility for invasion if the system lacks security measures. Such systems are hunted by crackers or intruders through vulnerability scanning by which they are able to find a weak point in your system and the possibility to access the computer through them.
Protocol analyzer / Packet sniffer
This is an application that can intercept and log traffic passing over a digital network or a part of the network. They can be used maliciously to capture information.
Phishing
This mechanism can also be referred as online identity theft. This is a situation in which a program is efficiently mimicked as another by falsifying data and thereby gaining legitimate access. These programs comes in many forms; one of them being email messages that looks genuine and attempts to get victims reveal their personal information.
How does Malware affect your PC?
The impact of the attack can vary from mild to severe attacks. The mild kind of attacks by any of the malicious agents may just force you to continuously press some keyboard key at regular intervals to enable you to work on the computer.
In contrast, the severe kind of attack may end up even formatting your entire hard disk, reinstalling your operating system where you may not be able to even retrieve any of your existing files. They cause damage worth billions each year both in terms of data, man hours and money that companies waste while the data is being recovered by professionals.
Even before Internet gained its popularity and data used to be transferred using removable storage devices, these malicious programs used to spread commuting over these devices.
Ever since Internet has conquered the scenario, as soon as the computers get connected to the Net, the malicious programs find their way into the cyberspace hunting for potential victims. They can cause harm in various ways, and the outcome of the attack tends to be perilous.
To secure you PCs, you must understand how the attack can affect your system. The harmful software program enters the computer and exploits the security system. Once it gains control of the host, it causes unanticipated behavior to occur on the software and hardware. A particular system can be accessed remotely without the consent of the user and taken control of. The heights of misusing the system can range from viewing, accessing, manipulating your files to running other harmful applications on your system and thereby damaging the operating system as well.
Denial of service attacks is a type of encounter that happens when the hacker sends a request to the server to connect it. Once the server tries to acknowledge the connection and tries to establish a session, the server is unable to find the source of request. This leads to slowing down of the system and ultimately to system crash. Attackers can deny service to the user by overloading the capabilities of a machine or network and block all users at once.
There exists yet another technique of invasion through emails which is very common nowadays. The emails are sent over the internet via SMTP. By gaining access to a number of e-mail addresses, a person can send unsolicited junk e-mail (spam) to thousands of users. This is made possible by SMTP session hijacking, enabling the sender to redirect the e-mail through the SMTP server of an unsuspecting host, and hence by not revealing the identity of the actual sender.
Phishing or online identity theft as the name indicates, is the method of sending false emails or information and prompts the user to key in details regarding credit card information, bank account details and other such confidential information.
How to protect your PC from Malwares?
Safeguarding your computer is not an easy task. To destroy or prevent the viruses from attacking your computer, each and every step in the usage of your computer requires protection. There are a numerous ways which will help you attain this:
Backups
Taking timely backups of your system can help in prevention of loss of data to some extent. These data are stored on hard disks, CDs, Pen drives, tapes and kept safely at a different location.
Be it at your home or work place, if you are used to surf the net, you might have also come across Firewalls. This is one of the security measures provided to protect your home network or company network from offensive websites and hackers. A firewall acts as a barrier that prevents destructive forces from entering into your area. Firewall can protect you from a number of system abuses. The level of security you establish will determine how many kinds of threats can be stopped by your firewall. The highest level of security being to block everything that comes to your system and then choose the type of traffic you would like to permit. One of the best things about a firewall from a security standpoint is that it prevents the trespassers from logging onto a computer in your private network. While this is a huge relief for businesses, most home networks have also gained in this manner. Although it’s a fact, some spam is going to get through your firewall as long as you accept e-mail.
To destroy or prevent the viruses from attacking your computer, there are another set of antidote software programs created known as anti virus.
Antivirus residing on your computer acts as a shield, keeping track of all files entering your machine. The anti-virus has a vast built-in library of all known viruses. The installed antivirus scans the systems periodically to check for any virus attack. It also scans every incoming file, downloads and emails. As soon as it comes across a known virus, it warns the user to take necessary actions. Updating the antivirus periodically from the vendor site is also necessary for protecting your system from the newcomers.
Opening any kind of spam or any emails from unknown senders or with any unexpected attachments is not advised. Clicking on links visible in such emails or viewing the email itself can cause the implantation of agents of destruction you’re your system. If you use Outlook or Outlook Express for your e-mail, there are some settings you can adjust to make your e-mail safe from spyware and viruses. Sometimes viewing the messages in the Preview Pane can also instigate the attack of such agents. Malicious content exploits security holes in the software, so enabling or disabling the Preview Pane is not the ultimate issue. Keeping up with patches and security fixes is a better long-term solution.
Yet another way to protect your system is to browse safely. The Internet is like a fantasy world. There’s a lot to see and most of the time you are unaware of the source. Most of the sites of unknown publishers come with catchy captions. Be smart enough to avoid them. Be careful with certain dialog boxes and the pop up ads, which tempts you to click on them and finally ends up planting some kind of harmful pests on your system. Sometimes certain security alerts can also appear while you are online prompts you to click on them.
The Windows operating system and Internet Explorer browser come with variable security settings. While the most convenient way to surf the Web might appear to be with the security settings on low, increases the risk of attack. Certain features of the Web can be controlled by the security settings available within your system. Controlling ActiveX, which is a set of controls that helps you experience the liveliness of a website, can be controlled using the windows settings. While most of these controls are useful and help you experience content online, they can be used for malicious purposes. There are also options available to block the pop up ads various browsers.
Phishing scams take advantages of software and security weaknesses on both the client and server sides. Firewalls and antivirus softwares can also help protect you from Phishing. Reviewing the SSL certificates and one’s own bank statements or credit card statements would be an extra measure of safety. When it comes to suspicious links in emails, try typing in the business's URL into your browser than to click on any link sent in e-mail.