You start your fairly-new computer up and begin to wait for the boot process to complete. After 10 minutes of agony you’re finally at the desktop screen. You notice the icon below indicates that you have full access to the internet and you decide you want to surf the web. You click on your web browser and the computer sounds as if it’s processing the data but you receive delayed feedback. Once you’re online, as routine, you check your e-mails. You then notice an email entitled, “Congratulations!!! Claim your free iPad!” You click on it and suddenly windows continuously start popping up one on top of the other causing your computer to crash. Congratulations! You have just been a victim of a malware attack.
Malware is malicious software designed for tampering or damaging a computer system. Such tampering includes unauthorized changes to a user’s settings, obtaining vital information, and software program manipulation, malfunction or deletion. Other malware threats can leave a system highly vulnerable for future attacks without the user even noticing an effect. The most common examples of malware are viruses, worms, and Trojans. (What is malware?) (Wilson Technology Group, Inc., 2011)
A computer virus is malware that has the power to copy itself to other computer systems. Mainly, it will attach itself to an executable file, such as those that help start up a computer. This is because in order for a virus to spread, the infected program must be in use. Typically, a virus is transferred through e-mail, file transfers and instant messaging; it will usually grasp on to files with the extensions .doc, .exe, or .bat. A virus can email itself to anyone and everyone in an address book if that virus infected an e-mailing program such as Microsoft Outlook, Yahoo Mail, or America Online. (What is virus?) (Wilson Technology Group, Inc., 2011)
The Term Paper on Anti Virus Viruses Computer Law
No Security: A Ethical Look At Computer ViriNottingham iOutlineThesis: There is no way to stop people from writing viruses and there shouldn't be, however penalties need to be employed for those who damage or cause harm in any way to other people and computers. I. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) had to close down due to a computer virus infection. A. Australian computer vandals are believed ...
The Elk Cloner was the first virus spread ever known. It was created in 1982 by a 15-year old high school student, Rich Skrenta. It monitored the floppy drive and copied itself to every diskette that was inserted into the drive. Once copied, the diskette was ready to infect the next computer it would be inserted into causing a chain reaction. An infected computer would display a short poem on every 50th boot. (Elk Cloner, 2012) (What is virus?)
Like the computer virus, a computer worm is also a self-replicating program. Along with infecting a computer system, it also has the capability to infect the network attached to that system therefore spreading itself out as much as possible. Because of this, it can slow down network traffic just in the process of replicating itself. Once the network is infected it will attack any kind or server it could (file, name, print, web, and etc.) by manipulating and corrupting data. (What is worm?) (Wilson Technology Group, Inc., 2011)
Worms execute and spread independently through connected networks oppose to viruses, which depend on a transferrable host to spread from system to system. Worms also rely on a vulnerable “service” such as peer-to-peer (P2P) programs. Some known P2P programs include BitTorrent, Kazaa, and Napster, with Napster being the first P2P program. (Spencer) (Wilson Technology Group, Inc., 2011)
Due to legal issues, including piracy, Napster plunged and forced individuals to search for other free file-sharing programs. One in particular was Kazaa. It was the definition of vulnerable, leaving doors open for all types of malware. In 2004, the Mydoom worm was initiated through Kazaa, which led it to rapidly spread. The Mydoom worm caused a Denial of Service (DoS) attack which infected thousands of computers, especially within the companies of the SCO (Santa Cruz Operation) Group and Microsoft. A DoS attack prevents users from accessing normal services due to a busy system responding to abnormally large amounts of requests. The Mydoom worm was also spread through infected email attachments, a primary feature of the Trojan malware. (Spencer) (MyDoom, 2012) (Metz, 2004)
The Essay on Computer Viruses
... macro language of specific computer programs, such as Word or Excel. These viruses infect files when a program document is accessed, or ... virus, a program virus, a trojan horse virus, a macro virus, a memory resident virus, a stealth virus, or a polymorphic virus. A boot sector virus ... as a worm. A worm is a virus-like program that creates copies of itself continuously until the computer system is ...
The Trojan horse, also known as Trojans, is malicious software that appears to be legitimate but is intended to perform background tasks to manipulate and/or obtain data. It requires the end-user to install an application which is disguised as a program or utility that appears to be useful and safe. Unlike worms and viruses, it cannot self-replicate. However, it may include a worm, virus, or both. The most common posers are the fake anti-virus pop-up messages leading to infected web sites. (What is Trojan horse?) (Wilson Technology Group, Inc., 2011) (Trojan horse (computing), 2012)
Zeus, a Trojan horse, was created in attempt to steal banking and other vital information. The malicious software was programmed to record keystrokes from an infected computer. It was first discovered in 2007, when it was used to steal information from the United States Department of Transportation. In 2009, a security company discovered that the Trojan had put in jeopardy more than seventy-four thousand accounts on company websites such as Bank of America, NASA, Monster.com, ABC, Oracle, Play.com, Cisco, Amazon, and Business Week. Currently, Zeus still lurks around, creating criminal mischief. However, due to preventative measures, it is more contained, now, than it was when first discovered. (Trojan horse (computing), 2012) (Zeus (Trojan horse), 2012)
The most common and most successful way to prevent malware attacks is through anti-virus software. Anti-virus software is designed to specifically detect, disable, and remove malware before it infects a computer. The only downside to this solution is that it has to possess the knowledge of specific malware in order to prevent them. Therefore, it is necessary to apply the most recent updates, patches, and virus definitions, routinely. Top anti-virus software, today, are Norton, BitDefender, Kaspersky, and Malwarebytes. (Wilson Technology Group, Inc., 2011) (What is virus?) (O’Reilly, 2012) (How to prevent unauthorized computer access) (Rubenking, 2012)
The Term Paper on Computer Trojan Url Web
Table of Contents 01. What Is This Paper About 02. What Is A Trojan Horse 03. How Do Trojans Work 04.Trojans Variations -Remote Access Trojans-Password Sending Trojans-Key logging Trojans -Destructive Trojans-Denial Of Service (DoS) Attack Trojans-Proxy/Wingate Trojans-FTP Trojans-Detection Software Killers 05. The Future Of Windows Trojans 06. How Can I Get Infected-Via ICQ-Via IRC-Via ...
A routine scan for malware, installing a firewall to monitor incoming and outgoing data, and keeping your computer software up-to-date are preventative measures that can keep your computer safe. Other preventative measures that can be practiced are constant password changes, including BIOS passwords, once every few months and handling e-mails more efficiently and properly. Always be aware of who sends you e-mails and why. If it looks too good to be true, chances are, it isn’t. (How to prevent unauthorized computer access) (Wilson Technology Group, Inc., 2011) (O’Reilly, 2012)
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The Essay on Computer Enginnering
A Strong Background in Computer Technology Computer technology has advanced dramatically over the past ten years. Technology has advanced from computers the size of a room that can only perform one particular task, to personal computers (PC?s) that will fit on a desk and perform multiple tasks. Understanding computers and their programs and being able to apply that knowledge is very important in ...
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Computer Viruses, Worms, and Trojan Horses Know the Difference. Retrieved July 2012, from Wilson Technology Group: http://wilsontechgroup.com/computer-viruses-worms-and-trojan-horses-know-the-difference
