Malware

What is Malware? What are malware types?

Malware is any program, file or software that is designed to harm and do unnecessary actions on a computer. It is used to disrupt computer operations, gain access to private computer systems and display unauthorized sensitive information without user’s permission for malicious reasons. Examples of malware include worms, Trojans, spyware horses, and viruses. A virus, for instance, deletes files or information on the directory. Good to note is that, several anti-viruses, anti-spyware has been developed to fight against malware.
Typical malware programs includes worm. A worm is a computer code that multiplies with no user dealings. They work by scanning computer files address books, WebPages; then they send infected mail messages and frequent imitation of addresses so that those infected do not suspect. Worms spread automatically which in the end overwhelm operating systems. Trojan horses are programs that hide in other legitimate programs then it puts codes in an operating system that enables the hacker to access infected computers. Spyware installs in the computer secretly, changes computer configuration, collect data and track internet search engines (Sahu & Shrivastava, 2015).

Malware history (the past, present and future?

Since invention of computers, programmers have created programs that modify computer behaviors. Some of these programs have been malicious, others dynamic, and others for leisure and experiments. Virus creators began writing viruses at the beginning of 1980’s. Until late 1990’s most of the viruses such as the first internet worms were designed as experiments and pranks with the sole intention of annoying users (Dhruw et al. 2016). The malware was developed for playful taunting rather than for malice intents. In late 1990’s and the start of 2000 virus creators began to use their viruses for criminal use. They began to use it for exploitation of both large corporations and regular computer users.
Nowadays, the motivation for developing malware is more of malicious purposes such as money making and power gain through information obtained. In modern society, malware is used by both hackers and criminals to steal personal, financial or business information. Malicious software has frequently been designed for profit generating reasons especially with the rise of widespread Internet access, the frequency of attacks is ever growing this is evidenced by thousands of malwares being detected daily. It is estimated that the quantity of malicious programs being released on the web may permanently exceed the release of genuine software

Malware problems?

Malware poses great problems to computers. This includes slowing down connections and crushing, data infiltration, giving access and control to another person to use as a server to broadcast various files among many effects. Through infiltration of data, private information and business information can be breached leading to massive loss of data.
Viruses cause many damages depending on the type of infecting virus. Trojans, for instance, causes the computer to be slow. In dangerous situations, it causes network breakdown and loss of valuable data. Failure of machines can be very disastrous. It may delete crucial system files disabling OS. Other viruses overload the system thereby affecting systems operability. In some instances, uncontrolled virus replication in events of attack completely paralyzes the company’s network and servers. In other situations, infections increase network traffic slowing the networks in the process, this causes severe problems across different institutions including banks, airlines, and other corporate institutions.
In other cases, the virus causes hardware failures. This happens in cases where the virus deletes data in the BIOS, making it impractical to start the machine. Restoring the device requires the BIOS to be rewritten implying massive costs for the user. Data losses occasioned by virus attack are can be very detrimental since the loss could be data that had been stored for many years. This can be avoided by keeping regular backups. When stolen data that belongs to financial institutions and government agencies falls into the wrong hands, its effect could be far-reaching as the information could be used to harm individuals.

Technological advances

To combat the increasing numbers of malware developed, technological progress in inventing anti-malware programs have been developed. Security companies have also developed automated online tools called “crypts” and ”Packers” this tools assist in establishing trusts, use in memory attacks all in an attempt to curb online attacks through to social networks (Miller et al. 2015). An on-access or real-time scanner is a particular anti-virus and anti-malware software that scans deeply into the operating system’s kernel and operates in a similar manner as the specific malware but with users’ informed consent to secure the system. Organizations should also acquire defenses to protect networks in real time that goes beyond desktops scanners, and network based prevention techniques.
Organizations are also increasing their real time universal scanning efforts through products such as McAfee. Security dealers have put sensors globally at key customers outlets or internet connection points to detect zero-day exploits in real time. Companies have also developed and integrated reputation management techniques into local network firewalls and devices so that they can better identify malicious software, collect data and act as an early warning sign before moving across the globe. Some companies have integrated geo-fencing techniques which assist them to identify particular domains that are broadcasting malware.
Managers have also used combinations of protection tools of both network and desktop which helps them to get the notification through alerts. This way they can track signals and symptomless viruses before they spread further. Some antivirus products have integrated endpoint protection from which they can monitor various machines from a central point.
Other measures such as eliminating USB ports could be necessary for the creation of the most secure networks. Other measures include training users on social engineering loopholes and how to avoid them.

Challenges

Malware authors are always devising evasive techniques to conceal the maliciously intended activity by developing “protectors” this makes it hard for viruses to be detected by the regular antivirus software. This is achieved by virus developers since they have access to the latest antivirus protection tools which offers them the platform to tweak the codes so that it cannot be detected by the antivirus. This means institutions and individuals must develop different security layers that will assist deter the attackers (Chowdhury, 2015). This multilayered security development help prevents the attackers since they will be forced to develop more great techniques to infiltrate the layers.
Sophisticated approaches such as the hijacking of software update services are being undertaken by malware authors to infiltrate malware into vulnerable systems during the updating of software. A major challenge to the anti-malware developers is Detecting malware that begins in the initial booting cycle. Operating system developers need to develop anti-malware software that can detect malware that starts early in the boot cycle. There is no anti-malware software for Windows that detects and resolves malware that begins early in the boot process
Latest viruses exploit software vulnerabilities even without user interaction. This can, however, be prevented by using patches though patch files do not prevent zero-day attacks. This means that regular malware needs more generic exposure and use of mitigation techniques such as (Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit) EMET, developed by Microsoft. Modern antivirus solutions are also able to block advanced exploitation techniques employed by virus developers. Though it is not easy to tackle targeted attacks, corporations should build multilayered security.

Implication of viruses

Viruses replicate themselves disrupting computer operations. They prevent the user from operating and accessing programs smoothly often giving inaccurate output. Viruses also target stored data in hard drives resulting in crashing. This often calls for formatting the hard disk since viruses’ cause’s adverse effects of infected files. Systems integrity is also harmed, and consumer computer memory is considerably slowed down. Some viruses re-install themselves even after being removed. In other instances, the computer hangs frequently and displays inconsistent error messages; the system sometimes restarts suddenly, fails to load and even limits access to system disk drives.

Lessons Learned

Security is important, and it is the responsibility of everybody to ensure that they are protected. Hackers can access system and steal important information through use of malware they can then use the information to cause harm to innocent individuals. Various avenues can transmit malware, and it is important that people learn those loopholes to avoid them: after all knowledge is power. Though technology is ever advancing especially as regards the fight against malware, virus programs are also developing their skills in a bid to remain relevant. This means that stringent measures should be taken to ensure one’s security and to make sure that others are also protected.
Malware can have a devastating effect on computers; they can slow down the machine functionality, they can alter computer processes thereby changing the output, in extreme cases, the system crashes leading to losing of precious data. Overall, users should try to prevent attack by malware by installing and applying the latest security patches in a bid to remain protected.

Reference

 
Chowdhury, W. (2015). Are Warnings from Online Users Effective? An Experimental Study of Malware Warnings Influencing Cyber Behaviour. International Journal of Cyber Behavior, Psychology and Learning (IJCBPL), 5 (2), 44-58.

Dhruw, M. K., Dewangan, Y., & Patel, P. (2016). An Introduction of Computer Virus, History & its Evolution. International Journal of Research, 3(4), 275-282.

Miller, B., Kantchelian, A., Tschantz, M. C., Afroz, S., Bahwani, R., Faizullabhoy, R. … & Joseph, A. D. (2015). Back to the future: Malware detection with temporally consistent labels. arXiv preprint arXiv: 1510.07338.

Nataraj, L., Karthikeyan, S., Jacob, G., & Manjunath, B. S. (2011, July). Malware images: visualization and automatic classification. In Proceedings of the 8th international symposium on visualization for cyber security (p. 4). ACM.
Sahu, K., & Shrivastava, S. K. (2015). Kernel K-Means Clustering for Phishing Website and Malware Categorization. International Journal of Computer Applications, 111(9).

By admin in Essays on June 14, 2016