Online Threats: Malwares

On my previous post, I talked about how important understanding the word “PC security“ is for a computer user. Since we are prone to indulge in the binary world where imaginary has no boundaries, it is in my belief that by learning the available threats which threatens our use of PC, we are giving ourselves the chance of taking the first step towards employing necessary protection. People love the sense of privacy & a stable environment, after all.

On this post, I’ll elaborate on malwares. Firstly, what is malware? Malware is the creation of the words “malicious software”, which basically means software which contains malicious intention, ranging from destroying your data to stealing your personal information. There are several types of malwares, each with a distinct purpose and operating method.

A) Virus

Virus is a self-replicating program that produces its own code by attaching copies of itself into other executable codes and it operates without the knowledge & desire of computer users.Virus, just like a living tissue, has many identifiable characteristics:

- Resides in the memory and replicates itself while the program it is attached to are running.
- Does NOT reside in the memory after the execution of a program
- Viruses are polymorphic (they transform by changing their codes to appear different, much like a biological virus)
- Hides itself from detection via encryption, steath algorithms and disk-directory altering so as to compensate the extra virus bytes.

Our next question is, how does a virus works? Well, virus requires the trigger of events in order for it to execute itself. Most viruses operate in two phases: the infection phase and the attack phase. In the infection phase, software developers attach .exe files to infect the programs while in the attack phase, virus causes fragmentation on PC; the main reason why you’ll feel that your PC is “lagging” or “snailing” whenever you are infected.

Even though some antivirus may not detect certain viruses, a user can rely on symptoms which hint that their PC is infected by a virus. The most frequent symptoms include drastic PC slowdowns, computer program freezes unexpectedly, certain hardware problems, computer act weirdly (example, files & folders’ contents are missing when you didn’t delete them) and to a more serious degree, your computer cannot launch the operating system (OS) during startup.

B) Worms

Worms are often confused as a virus due to their close resemblance. Worms are different from viruses, though, because of certain ways they behave. Worms can replicate itself and use memory like a virus, but they do not attach themselves to programs like viruses do. Furthermore, worms are automated, which means that they can spread through an infected network automatically while viruses don’t. Worms are more likely to cause hardware failures that viruses do, such as generating power faults, decreasing a system’s useful life, damaging magnet field (which operates in CD-Rom, monitor) and many more. As a result, worms are considered to be more dangerous than viruses.

C) Spywares & Adware

Spywares, unlike viruses and worms, are any technological tools used for tracking users and collect user information besides taking partial control of a user’s computer. Spywares get into a user’s system via deception and software vulnerabilities (one reason why Microsoft often patch its systems with Windows Update) and reside among places such as registry keys and your system32 files. They collect logs from your computer, browsing history, software usage, personal information and send them all to the respective “master” who initiates the infection. Like viruses and worms, users infected by spywares will most often see degradation in PC performances and unwanted activities on their PC.

Adware are almost as similar to spywares, however they different in a way that adware, like their namesake, are more prone towards displaying advertisements, installing toolbars without your consent and displaying misleading/deceptive information. The most prevalent ways of their activities includes generating pop-up advertisement even when you’re not online, or displaying fraud information claiming that your systems are infected and urge you to buy their software (which leads to identity theft).

D) Rootkits

Rootkits are an ongrowing form of PC security threats, which evolves over the years to become one of the most difficult malwares to detect and eliminate. Rootkits are only interested in taking over the fundamental parts of operating systems and launch its intended purpose of destruction. Virus writers nowadays LOVE to apply rootkit technology in their creation, largely due to the fact that rootkits can conceal themselves better than normal viruses could. Some rootkits can never be eleiminated completely because they are so rooted into the systems of a computer that antivirus software could not interfere due to the operation of the systems, rendering the antivirus software useless. In such cases, the entire system itself is no longer trustworthy and normally users can start contemplating a reinstallation of their OS.