As years gone by, there are more and more cyber attacks that threaten the reliability o
f online security. These cyber attacks can fall under a few categories and over here, we would focus on malicious attacks which are done to specifically cause harm to PC users. Most of the time, it tend to cause our data to be easily destroyed or stolen by other bad guys. Now, let us discuss about the types of malicious attacks that are commonly found through online.
f online security. These cyber attacks can fall under a few categories and over here, we would focus on malicious attacks which are done to specifically cause harm to PC users. Most of the time, it tend to cause our data to be easily destroyed or stolen by other bad guys. Now, let us discuss about the types of malicious attacks that are commonly found through online. The first type of threat is virus.
A virus is software codes that can replicates it and infect a computer without the consent or knowledge of the owner. In a simpler term, it is a program that makes a computer sick, just like viruses in a human body. Viruses are also considered as one of the less harmful threat as it an only spreads itself from one computer to another when its host is taken to the targeted computer. A virus can be spread through removable medium such as a USB drive, CD, or DVD. If a computer is seriously infected by a virus, it can destroy the whole data that have been saved.
The term “virus” is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of software such as malware, adware, and spyware. In fact, the software have indeed involved in data theft. So, ever wondered how does it relate to data theft?
Malware The word “Malware” is evolved from the combination of the word “Malicious” and “Software”. It is software that is designed with malicious intent. It will cause damages to a single computer, server, or computer network, spying on you, or any other malicious attacks. Malware can arrive through an internet download, as an email link or attachment, as files sent between users of instant messaging, online games and etc.
So, how does it link to data theft?
Usually, it happens when users downloaded free software or program whereby they must first follow the procedures, one of the procedures is by prompting users to first read up the lengthy “terms of agreement” and tick on the box if they agreed to the conditions. Usually users would just ignore the conditions and tick on it without realizing the fact that the agreements made were actually giving cybercriminals permission to track or monitor victims’ online activities or behaviors. Thus, this leads to data theft.Adware displays advertisements directed to your individual preferences based on websites you visited online. Adware can track your online activities, collect your web surfing habits, e-mail address and even gather information about the hardware and software installed on your home computer and send that information to marketers. Adware happens when the user do not understand or read the lengthy and confusing End- User License agreement before agreeing to the terms because they want to immediately download the program that they want.
Spyware is a program that runs on your computer and tracks your habits and tailors these patterns for advertisements. How does a spyware install itself to a computer? It is when the user rolling up advertising programs into “free” shareware program download. Once the spyware is installed, it can download advertisements 24 hours a day and display them on websites and programs you are using.
Cookies is a bit of text in a file on your computer, which contains information that identifies you to a particular website. It is a legitimate tool used by many web sites to track visitor’s information. However, some website use cookies to exploit user information by tracking the user surfing habit without informing the user, and use the data to customize the advertisements the user see on websites. It is typically considered as an invasion of privacy.
The second threat is worms.
A worm is a software program that runs independently without needing a host. It differs itself from a virus as viruses are dependent on other programs. The attack does not cause direct damage as it is designed to spread from one computer to another computer. It functions by mailing itself to a computer and mail copies of itself to other computer to it jams up the networks. The example of worm is Morris (the original computer worm), SQL Slammer, Melissa and my doom.
The Next Threat is Trojan Horse.
It is not considered as a virus but it may carry them. Basically, it works by hiding or masking behind something that appears to have a useful function. An example of it would be a Trojan horse hidden in a freeware program which tries to lure victims to run the program. It attempts to either destroy or modify the data the moment they were launched. It will erase the important data that we have store in hard drive. Besides that, they also attempt to steal the user’s password, credit card numbers and other confidential information. Thus, it leads to data theft. Trojan horse cannot replicate itself but they can incorporate a worm and send themselves to other computers.
Nowadays, viruses and spyware is two of the biggest concerns for computer users. As the saying goes” prevention is better than cure”, we feel that it is safer to keep our data in the computer if we keep our computer’s software patched and current. Always keep your anti-virus software up-to-date. We have to bear in mind that there is no free lunch in this world. So, we have to think before we install some “free” programs, it is always better to weight the risks and benefits and always be alert or beware of the lengthy and wordy agreement.
Relevant Links:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_differences_between_spyware_adware_malwarehttp://www.tech-faq.com/computer-worm-virus.shtml
No comments:
Post a Comment