Related Research Articles
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 users access to information or which unknowingly interferes with the user's computer security and privacy. By contrast, software that causes harm due to some deficiency is typically described as a software bug. Malware poses serious problems to individuals and businesses. According to Symantec’s 2018 Internet Security Threat Report (ISTR), malware variants number has got up to 669,947,865 in 2017, which is twice as many malware variants in 2016.
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.
Linux malware includes viruses, Trojans, worms and other types of malware that affect the Linux family of operating systems. Linux, Unix and other Unix-like computer operating systems are generally regarded as very well-protected against, but not immune to, computer viruses.
A botnet is a number of Internet-connected devices, each of which runs one or more bots. Botnets can be used to perform Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks, steal data, send spam, and allow the attacker to access the device and its connection. The owner can control the botnet using command and control (C&C) software. The word "botnet" is a portmanteau of the words "robot" and "network". The term is usually used with a negative or malicious connotation.
In computing, Download.ject is a malware program for Microsoft Windows servers. When installed on an insecure website running on Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS), it appends malicious JavaScript to all pages served by the site.
Drive-by download means two things, each concerning the unintended download of computer software from the Internet:
- Downloads which a person has authorized but without understanding the consequences.
- Any download that happens without a person's knowledge, often a computer virus, spyware, malware, or crimeware.
Mobile malware is malicious software that targets Kg or wireless-enabled Lff (PDA), by causing the collapse of the system and loss or leakage of confidential information. As wireless phones and PDA networks have become more and more common and have grown in complexity, it has become increasingly difficult to ensure their safety and security against electronic attacks in the form of viruses or other malware.
Watering hole is a computer attack strategy in which an attacker guesses or observes which websites an organization often uses and infects one or more of them with malware. Eventually, some member of the targeted group will become infected. Hacks looking for specific information may only attack users coming from a specific IP address. This also makes the hacks harder to detect and research. The name is derived from predators in the natural world, who wait for an opportunity to attack their prey near watering holes.
A password manager is a computer program that allows users to store, generate, and manage their passwords for local applications and online services.
Webattacker is a do-it-yourself malware creation kit that includes scripts that simplify the task of infecting computers and spam-sending techniques to lure victims to specially rigged Websites. It was allegedly created by a group of Russian programmers. The kit demands minimal technical sophistication to be manipulated and used by crackers.
A zero-day is a computer-software vulnerability either unknown to those who should be interested in its mitigation or known and a patch has not been developed. Until the vulnerability is mitigated, hackers can exploit it to adversely affect programs, data, additional computers or a network. An exploit directed at a zero-day is called a zero-day exploit, or zero-day attack.
Srizbi BotNet is considered one of the world's largest botnets, and responsible for sending out more than half of all the spam being sent by all the major botnets combined. The botnets consist of computers infected by the Srizbi trojan, which sent spam on command. Srizbi suffered a massive setback in November 2008 when hosting provider Janka Cartel was taken down; global spam volumes reduced up to 93% as a result of this action.
A web threat is any threat that uses the World Wide Web to facilitate cybercrime. Web threats use multiple types of malware and fraud, all of which utilize HTTP or HTTPS protocols, but may also employ other protocols and components, such as links in email or IM, or malware attachments or on servers that access the Web. They benefit cybercriminals by stealing information for subsequent sale and help absorb infected PCs into botnets.
Gumblar is a malicious JavaScript trojan horse file that redirects a user's Google searches, and then installs rogue security software. Also known as Troj/JSRedir-R this botnet first appeared in 2009.
Malvertising is the use of online advertising to spread malware. It typically involves injecting malicious or malware-laden advertisements into legitimate online advertising networks and webpages. Online advertisements provide a solid platform for spreading malware because significant effort is put into them in order to attract users and sell or advertise the product. Because advertising content can be inserted into high-profile and reputable websites, malvertising provides malefactors an opportunity to push their attacks to web users who might not otherwise see the ads, due to firewalls, more safety precautions, or the like. Malvertising is "attractive to attackers because they 'can be easily spread across a large number of legitimate websites without directly compromising those websites'."
Mobile security, or more specifically mobile device security, is the protection of smartphones, tablets, and laptops from threats associated with wireless computing. It has become increasingly important in mobile computing. Of particular concern is the security of personal and business information now stored on smartphones.
Browser security is the application of Internet security to web browsers in order to protect networked data and computer systems from breaches of privacy or malware. Security exploits of browsers often use JavaScript, sometimes with cross-site scripting (XSS) with a secondary payload using Adobe Flash. Security exploits can also take advantage of vulnerabilities that are commonly exploited in all browsers.
The Blackhole exploit kit was, as of 2012, the most prevalent web threat, where 29% of all web threats detected by Sophos and 91% by AVG are due to this exploit kit. Its purpose is to deliver a malicious payload to a victim's computer. According to Trend Micro the majority of infections due to this exploit kit were done in a series of high volume spam runs. The kit incorporates tracking mechanisms so that people maintaining the kit know considerable information about the victims arriving at the kit's landing page. The information tracked includes the victim's country, operating system, browser and which piece of software on the victim's computer was exploited. These details are shown in the kit's user interface.
An exploit kit is simply a collection of exploits, which is a simple one-in-all tool for managing a variety of exploits altogether. Exploit kits act as a kind of repository, and make it easy for users without much technical knowledge to use exploits. Users can add their own exploits to it and use them simultaneously apart from the pre-installed ones.
ZeuS Panda, Panda Banker, or Panda is a variant of the original Zeus under the banking Trojan category. Its discovery was in 2016 in Brazil around the time of the Olympic Games. The majority of the code is derived from the original Zeus trojan, and maintains the coding to carry out man-in-the-browser, keystroke logging, and form grabbing attacks. ZeuS Panda launches attack campaigns with a variety of exploit kits and loaders by way of drive-by downloads and phishing emails, and also hooking internet search results to infected pages. Stealth capabilities make not only detecting but analyzing the malware difficult.
References
- "Hackers target 'legitimate' sites". BBC. 2007-06-20. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
- "MPack, Packed Full of Badness". Symantec. 2007-05-27. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
- "PandaLabs Report: MPack uncovered" (PDF). PandaLabs. 2007-05-11. Retrieved 2007-07-04.
- "MPack malware exposes cheapskate web hosts". The Register. 2007-07-04. Retrieved 2007-07-04.
- "Interview with MPack developer". The Register. 2007-07-23. Retrieved 2007-07-23.
- Brian Krebs (2007-10-13). "Mapping the Russian Business Network". Washington Post blogs. Retrieved 2007-10-14.
- Gregg Keizer (2007-09-30). "Bank of India site hacked, serves up 22 exploits". Computer World. Archived from the original on 2007-10-14. Retrieved 2007-10-14.
 | This malware-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |