Malware is any software intentionally designed to cause disruption to a computer, server, client, or computer network, leak private information, gain unauthorized access to information or systems, deprive access to information, or which unknowingly interferes with the user's computer security and privacy. Researchers tend to classify malware into one or more sub-types.
Spyware is any software with malicious behavior that aims to gather information about a person or organization and send it to another entity in a way that harms the user by violating their privacy, endangering their device's security, or other means. This behavior may be present in malware and in legitimate software. Websites may engage in spyware behaviors like web tracking. Hardware devices may also be affected.
Back Orifice 2000 is a computer program designed for remote system administration. It enables a user to control a computer running the Microsoft Windows operating system from a remote location. The name is a pun on Microsoft BackOffice Server software.
This timeline of computer viruses and worms presents a chronological timeline of noteworthy computer viruses, computer worms, Trojan horses, similar malware, related research and events.
Sasser is a computer worm that affects computers running vulnerable versions of the Microsoft operating systems Windows XP and Windows 2000. Sasser spreads by exploiting the system through a vulnerable port. Thus it is particularly virulent in that it can spread without user intervention, but it is also easily stopped by a properly configured firewall or by downloading system updates from Windows Update. The specific hole Sasser exploits is documented by Microsoft in its MS04-011 bulletin, for which a patch had been released seventeen days earlier. The most characteristic experience of the worm is the shutdown timer that appears due to the worm crashing LSASS.
NetBus or Netbus is a software program for remotely controlling a Microsoft Windows computer system over a network. It was created in 1998 and has been very controversial for its potential of being used as a trojan horse.
Internet security is a branch of computer security. It encompasses the Internet, browser security, web site security, and network security as it applies to other applications or operating systems as a whole. Its objective is to establish rules and measures to use against attacks over the Internet. The Internet is an inherently insecure channel for information exchange, with high risk of intrusion or fraud, such as phishing, online viruses, trojans, ransomware and worms.
Agobot, also frequently known as Gaobot, is a family of computer worms. Axel "Ago" Gembe, a German programmer also known for leaking Half-Life 2 a year before release, was responsible for writing the first version. The Agobot source code describes it as: “a modular IRC bot for Win32 / Linux”. Agobot was released under version 2 of the GNU General Public License. Agobot is a multi-threaded and mostly object oriented program written in C++ as well as a small amount of assembly. Agobot is an example of a Botnet that requires little or no programming knowledge to use.
Norton AntiVirus is an anti-virus or anti-malware software product founded by Peter Norton, developed and distributed by Symantec since 1990 as part of its Norton family of computer security products. It uses signatures and heuristics to identify viruses. Other features included in it are e-mail spam filtering and phishing protection.
As the next version of Windows NT after Windows 2000, as well as the successor to Windows Me, Windows XP introduced many new features but it also removed some others.
The Windows Metafile vulnerability—also called the Metafile Image Code Execution and abbreviated MICE—is a security vulnerability in the way some versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system handled images in the Windows Metafile format. It permits arbitrary code to be executed on affected computers without the permission of their users. It was discovered on December 27, 2005, and the first reports of affected computers were announced within 24 hours. Microsoft released a high-priority update to eliminate this vulnerability via Windows Update on January 5, 2006. Attacks using this vulnerability are known as WMF exploits.
Bifrost is a backdoor trojan horse family of more than 10 variants which can infect Windows 95 through Windows 10. Bifrost uses the typical server, server builder, and client backdoor program configuration to allow a remote attacker, who uses the client, to execute arbitrary code on the compromised machine.
The Vundo Trojan is either a Trojan horse or a computer worm that is known to cause popups and advertising for rogue antispyware programs, and sporadically other misbehavior including performance degradation and denial of service with some websites including Google and Facebook. It also is used to deliver other malware to its host computers. Later versions include rootkits and ransomware.
Quick Assist is a Microsoft Windows feature that allows a user to view or control a remote Windows computer over a network or the Internet to resolve issues without directly touching the unit. It is based on the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). It is complemented by Get Help, a feature introduced in Windows 10 that enables the user to contact Microsoft directly but does not allow for remote desktoping or screen sharing.
The Storm Worm is a phishing backdoor Trojan horse that affects computers using Microsoft operating systems, discovered on January 17, 2007. The worm is also known as:
Mebroot is a master boot record based rootkit used by botnets including Torpig. It is a sophisticated Trojan horse that uses stealth techniques to hide itself from the user. The Trojan opens a back door on the victim's computer which allows the attacker complete control over the computer.
Email spammers have developed a variety of ways to deliver email spam throughout the years, such as mass-creating accounts on services such as Hotmail or using another person's network to send email spam. Many techniques to block, filter, or otherwise remove email spam from inboxes have been developed by internet users, system administrators and internet service providers. Due to this, email spammers have developed their own techniques to send email spam, which are listed below.
Sality is the classification for a family of malicious software (malware), which infects Microsoft Windows systems files. Sality was first discovered in 2003 and has advanced to become a dynamic, enduring and full-featured form of malicious code. Systems infected with Sality may communicate over a peer-to-peer (P2P) network to form a botnet to relay spam, proxying of communications, exfiltrating sensitive data, compromising web servers and/or coordinating distributed computing tasks to process intensive tasks. Since 2010, certain variants of Sality have also incorporated rootkit functions as part of an ongoing evolution of the malware family. Because of its continued development and capabilities, Sality is considered one of the most complex and formidable forms of malware to date.
DarkComet is a remote access trojan (RAT) developed by Jean-Pierre Lesueur, an independent programmer and computer security coder from France. Although the RAT was developed back in 2008, it began to proliferate at the start of 2012. The program was discontinued, partially due to its use in the Syrian civil war to monitor activists but also due to its author's fear of being arrested for unnamed reasons. As of August 2018, the program's development "has ceased indefinitely", and downloads are no longer offered on its official website.
njRAT, also known as Bladabindi, is a remote access tool (RAT) with user interface or trojan which allows the holder of the program to control the end-user's computer. It was first found in June 2013 with some variants traced to November 2012. It was made by a hacking organization from different countries called M38dHhM and was often used against targets in the Middle East. It can be spread through phishing and infected drives. To date, there are many versions of this virus, the most famous of which is njRAT Green Edition.
