Malware

The intended audience for this article are people who know nothing to some extend about malwares. I will talk about what it is?, it's history and it's types.

Understanding malware:

Malware is short cut for malicious software, and the attacker will try to spread their malicious code into your system to steal data such as credit card information or passwords etc, and the internet helped in spreading these malwares by

• peer-to-peer networks, peer-to-peer networks have been, for the longest time, one of the preferred methods of infection by many attackers.

•  instant messaging.

• Emails links.

• physical access to the computer victim system.

• Impersonating mobile apps.

• SMS

• Watering hole. waterhole idea is actually to infect a website that the attacker knows that the victim will actually visit, then waits.

History and development of malware:

Malware developed as PCs developed, and before the term malware was coined, it's used to be called computer viruses. This is because the early malicious programs were mostly self replicators.

Malware development faced some early challenges back in the days, because A)it has to be code optimized due to the low memory early computers had ,and B)Double infection checking, so that the virus doesn't infect the same file more than one time and also raise suspicion, but nowadays performance isn't an issue due to the high specs computer have nowadays and malware can easily spread and hide it self, without even being detected by the average anti malware programs.

Types of malware:

Trojans: The term comes from Trojan Horse used in the ancient Greek war where it appeared as though one army was presenting a gift to another army, but inside that wooden horse were a bunch of soldiers that broke out and caused havoc when the city went to sleep. So the same kind of idea here, we have some kind of software that appears to be some cool software, but once we actually try to run it, it performs some other kind of task instead.

Viruses: it's some kind of program that is used to do some kind of task, but the key of viruses that it replicates it self to other files etc.

Internet Worms: A worm is very similar to a virus, but the big difference between a virus and worm is that a worm, not only is some malicious code that performs some kind of malicious attack, but also it replicates itself but not locally, it does it across the network to other machines, so more machines will be affected by a worm.

Ransomware: is a malware that blocks the user from accessing the device unless you pay them to give you the crypto key.

Spyware: is some type of malware software that records stuff on your system, data and information on your system.

Backdoors: Backdoors enable an attacker to gain access to a compromised system, bypassing any form of safeguards and authentication.