What is Malware? How does it get into your computer? | InfoSec Reporter

What is Malware?

Malware is a short word for the term malicious software. In this case, Malicious means anything that causes harm, while the software is something you use to instruct a computer.

Cybercriminals use malware to cause damage. They can install it on your computer without your permission.

Read on to learn more about the methods they use to install the malware.

Different types of malware can harm your computer. Hackers use them to steal vital information that belongs to you (e.g your user names, passwords, credit, and debit card numbers, etc), they delete crucial files, or they can stop your computer from working.

Other types, such as spyware, are used to spy on what you do. For example, spyware allows hackers to follow everything you do on your computer, including who you talk to.

Hackers use malware to steal a person’s business information or delete vital data.

Criminals also use malware to make money. A malware called ransomware can lock your computer. A hacker will demand that you pay a certain amount of money before he gives you access to your own computer.

Why should you be concerned about Malware?

The following are malware statistics collected from different sources.

As you will see, malware is hazardous, and you should be concerned.

Employees spread viruses to other employees.

Companies today provide employees with computers for work.

When an employee becomes infected with malware, the malware can spread to other people.

For example, using the USB between users can spread a malicious program to other computers.

In 2019, 71% of businesses said that their employees helped malware spread to other people.

Although the number of such activities in 2020 remains at 60%, it shows malware spreads quickly.

Malware attacks are many

A report showed that malware attacks are many. A type of malware called ransomware infected 51% of businesses.

Ransomware is a malware program that prevents people from using their computers or accessing any device information.

It causes companies to stop essential operations. Ransomware and other malware types, like adware, worms, viruses, trojans, and spyware, are destructive.

Hundreds of thousands of new malware are created every day.

At least 350,000 new malware are discovered every day. Can you imagine the number of malware programs identified every year?

The number can be quite large. In 2019 alone, more than 7 billion malware attacks were reported. Anyone’s computer can be infected at any time.

How does Malware get into your computer?

There are several ways through which malware can get into our computers. One common way is through email.

Criminals use a popular method called phishing to transmit malware.

Does phishing sound familiar? It is a method where a hacker tricks you into downloading the malware yourself.

They send emails masquerading as trusted senders to trick you into opening an attachment or visiting a malicious website.

Once the attacker identifies a target, he sends an email that sounds urgent.

It can be an email from the bank, school, or hospital. The email tricks people by purporting to be critical so that recipients can open it.

Clicking any link or document in the email can download malware. Using
email is a successful method because hackers are sure some people can be tricked easily.

Another popular method is visiting a website containing malware. Have you ever opened a website and seen a lot of advertisements in the form of pop-ups?

An example is “Click here to win an iPhone 12”. If you have come across them or clicked them, you may have already installed malware on your computer.

See, cybercriminals understand how humans desire free things.

They know that a few people will click on such ad pop-ups, as they are commonly called.

However, upon clicking, you download malware instead of winning an iPhone.

Sometimes, the ad pop-ups may lead to a malicious website, where hidden malware downloads automatically into your computer.

Infection through ad pop-ups is common since it has a high success rate.

Drive-by downloads are another prevalent method of transmitting malware.

It is similar to that of using websites, with the difference being the malware downloads automatically.

A drive-by download attack is where malware downloads immediately you visit an infected website.

In a drive-by download, a person does not have to click anywhere on a website.

Hackers place malware in websites lacking enough security. Insufficient security means your website cannot detect the presence of malware on the site.

Other websites have outdated protection controls. Hiding the malware in such websites enables cybercriminals to distribute malware without much effort.

Another method to watch out for is through the use of computer software.

Hackers who create malware programs can hide them in the existing software. A famous example of malware-ridden software involves the use of pirated programs.

If you have heard about pirated songs or movies, it is the same case with pirated software.

An individual takes legitimate software, modifies it, and shares it as the owner. When changing the software, malicious individuals may add malicious codes.

Therefore, when you download and install the pirated program, you unknowingly introduce the malware into your computer.

What are the different types of malware?

Just like there are different types of software, there are several different types of malware.

Every malware behaves differently. The types include viruses, worms, trojan horses, adware, and spyware.

Virus

A virus is malware that requires another software to work. It is just like a virus in a human body that cannot survive without its host, the human.

A virus cannot copy itself or move between programs or networks without software to host it.

One of the primary methods used to spread viruses is pirated programs. The pirated programs become the host while the virus causes harm to the computer.

A virus can destroy your computer in many ways, such as stealing information, deleting files, and corrupting other software.

Worms

A malware worm is similar to a virus. Actually, worms cause the same adverse effects on a computer as viruses do.

However, worms are more dangerous than computer viruses. The malicious programs can survive when in or out of a host.

They do not require a host to move from one computer to another. Worms can copy themselves in a network and spread faster.

The process is known as self-replication. Replication is copying the same malware over and over again in different networks and computers.

Such abilities make computer worms to be more dangerous.

Trojan Horses

For you to understand this type of malware, you first need to know what a trojan horse is.

Greek soldiers are said to have hidden in a hollow, wooden horse to enter Troy in ancient Greece.

Criminals use the same understanding to create trojan horse malware to harm a computer while looking genuine.

It is a harmful software that looks like regular software to trick users into installing it. Trojan horses contain hidden destructive capabilities.

The dangerous functions begin once the applications start running.

A trojan horse requires you first to run an application to work. However, unlike worms, the malicious program cannot replicate on a network.

Trojan horse malware relies on an application to run and cause damage to a user.

Trojan horses cause the same damages as viruses and worms. They allow hackers to steal important files and delete information but are more dangerous.

A criminal can use a trojan horse to control your computer. Many experts believe that trojan horses are the most common types of malware.

Adware

Do you remember about the ad pop-ups that criminals use to spread malware infections?

They are a type of malware called adware. Other than spreading malware, criminals use adware to make money.

Hackers use adware to collect your personal information. For example, clicking adware can take you to another website where you are tricked into filling out your information.

Suppose the adware was about winning an iPhone 12 or other prizes. In that case, the website might require you to fill in personal details, such as age, name, social security number, home address, and current location.

However, the creators of the adware collect the data and sell on the dark web.

Spyware

A Spyware is a dangerous malware that steals a person’s computer information.

With spyware, an attacker can discover the websites you visit. They can see when you visit your bank account online, see your bank account balance, username, and password.

Cybercriminals can collect and use this information to empty your bank account.

How do you know if your computer has malware?

There are several ways you can use to tell if your computer contains any malware. They are as described below:

If the operating system is outdated

There is a high possibility that your computer has malware if it runs on an outdated operating system.

Every computer requires an operating system to function. An operating system is
software that supports other software.

Consider it as a car engine. An example of an operating system is Windows 10.

An outdated operating system does not have enough security. Failing to update an operating system means it does not have the most recent security measures. Hackers can use weak security to introduce malware programs.

Always update all your computer software to prevent malware from entering your computer.

If you get many ad pop-ups

We mentioned that hackers use ad pop-ups to make money and spread more malware.

If you see your computer having many ad pop-ups, it could be due to a malware infection.

The malware may be created to show ten pop-ups every one hour or thirty minutes.

Avoid clicking the pop-ups. Clicking them can download more malware or take you to harmful websites that collect your personal information.

Some ads may be tempting to click but don’t.

If the computer runs slower than normal

A computer that suddenly becomes slow could be due to a malware infection.

Once a worm, virus, or trojan horse infects your computer, they could run many tasks that make the computer become slower.

When many tasks run at the same time, they use a lot of resources. Computer resources are things like memory, CPU, and disk space.

If you notice your computer is suddenly slower than other days, it could have been infected by malware.

If the computer becomes unstable

An unstable computer is a clear sign of a malware infection.

For example, an infected computer can suddenly close down, restart, fail to open stored files, or crash every computer program.

Whenever a computer stops working or crashes, it is as a result of malware presence.

An unstable computer means that malware has corrupted essential computer applications and systems.

What can you do to protect against malware?

Update Software Regularly

Malware uses software with outdated security controls to introduce malware into your computer.

Software developers create new updates to solve security challenges in the old software.

Updating all your software can stop attackers from introducing malware into your computer.

Avoid clicking email links and attachments.

Hackers use phishing to spread malware. Phishing is a method of using emails to trick users into downloading malware.

The cybercriminals hide the malware in website links and attachments like word documents.

Once you receive an email from unknown people, please don’t open it.

If you do and find it asking you to click on a link or an attachment, it may be a trick that can potentially download malware.

Not clicking on unknown links and attachments can protect you from malware.

Use antivirus software

Antivirus software programs are effective in protecting you from malware.

Antivirus programs detect and remove malware from a computer. A lot of antivirus software is available for free.

Always use antivirus when visiting an online site. An antivirus product is also essential in scanning new software before installing it.

Use ad pop-up blockers

Attackers place ad pop-ups on different websites so that users can click them.

Clicking an ad pop-up can download and install malware.

The good news, though, is that there many types of ad blockers or pop-up blockers.

They work the same way as an antivirus, only that they detect and block pop-ups from showing.

Using ad blockers can prevent a user from clicking harmful ad pop-ups and prevent a malware infection.

Did you find this article helpful? Let me know in comments.

Originally published at https://infosecreporter.com on January 12, 2021.