The introduction of reliable, speedy broadband networks early in the 21st century changed the way malware was transmitted. No longer confined to floppy disks or company networks, malware was now able to spread very quickly via email, via popular websites or even directly over the Internet.
As a result, modern malware began to take shape. The threat landscape became a mixed environment shared by viruses, worms and Trojans—hence the name "malware" as an umbrella term for malicious software. One of the most serious epidemics of this new era was the LoveLetter, which appeared on May 4, As Securelist notes, it followed the pattern of earlier email viruses of the time, but unlike the macro viruses that had dominated the threat landscape since , it didn't take the form of an infected Word document, but arrived as a VBS file.
It was simple and straightforward, and since users hadn't learned to be suspicious of unsolicited emails, it worked.
Since the message often came to new victims from someone familiar, they were more likely to open it, making ILOVEYOU a proof-of-concept for the effectiveness of social engineering. The Code Red worm was a "file less" worm—it existed only in memory and made no attempt to infect files on the system.
Taking advantage of a flaw in the Microsoft Internet Information Server, the fast-replicating worm wreaked havoc by manipulating the protocols that allow computers to communicate and spread globally in just hours.
Eventually, as noted in Scientific American , compromised machines were used to launch a distributed denial of service attack on the Whitehouse. One of the most recent of the major viruses came out in , Heartbleed burst onto the scene and put servers across the Internet at risk. Heartbleed, unlike viruses or worms, stems from a vulnerability in OpenSSL, a general purpose, open source cryptographic library used by companies worldwide.
There are hundreds of thousands of viruses out there if not millions and they often designed for different objectives. Most of them fall under the following categories:. This is the most common type of virus, which is better classified as a trojan. These types of viruses are usually downloaded unknowingly by the computer user thinking that the file is something else, such as a file sent from a instant messenger friend or email attachment.
This Zombie Master who is often the virus creator, will gather thousands of infected machines called a botnet and use them to mount attacks on web servers.
The Zombie Master can command each of these infected computers will send a tiny bit of information to a web server — because there are potentially thousands of computers doing this at once, it often overloads the server. The Zombie Master may want to do this to another website because it is a rival website, a figurehead website such as whitehouse. The Zombie Master can also use these infected computers to send spam while the zombie master remains anonymous and the blame goes to the infected computers.
To Generate Money These types of infections often masquerade as free spyware or virus removal tools known as rogueware. A good example of such a infection is called Myzor. Steal sensitive information These types of viruses can sniff the traffic going in or out of a computer for interesting information such as passwords or credit card numbers and send it back to the virus creator.
These types of viruses often use keylogging as a method of stealing information where it maintains a record of everything that is typed into the computer such as emails, passwords, home banking data, instant messenger chats etc.. The above mentioned methods also allows an attacker to gather an incredible amount of data about a person which can be used for identity theft purposes.
Blaster virus aka Lovesan which infected hundreds of thousands of computers back in August Stop making money and fix your software!! To Cripple a Computer or Network Few viruses now days are intended to disable a computer because it stops viruses ability to spread to other computers. Computer crippling viruses still exist, but nowhere near as common as the viruses mentioned above.
The worst type of computer crippling viruses were back in the days of the computers where the virus would overwrite the Master Boot Record MBR of the computer which would often prevent the computer from starting up at all. Unlike computer crippling viruses, network crippling viruses are all too common now days. Most viruses that are designed to launch a Denial of Service attack will cause a significant load on a computer network, often bringing it down completely.
This is good to know. I guess the anti virus software houses could do with employing some of the makers. But where would they be without the viruses to defeat…. I want to meet one of these hackers in person. This might be begging to become one of their nasty zombies though.
A funny name for what used to called distributed computing. There was a site that attempted to take advantage of computers running around the world working to decipher DNA. I always wondered if that was really what it was using my computer for.
I will never understand the need for destruction that these sick, twisted people seem to have other than to validate their own sick egos! What is it in these people that makes them so evil? If you feel such a need to attack someone, go after the terrorist!
At least have the decency to use your intelligence for something helpful instead of harmful. Try to redeem yourselves at least and perhaps that will give the personal worth that you seek in trying to destroy people! We know why you have to validate yourselves! Virus hackers are totally evil, scumbag, lowlife leeches! I think the main reason why people create computer viruses is money. The person who creates viruses want to make easy money by stealing information from you, by sending you all type of ads and other illegal stuff.
There was one floating around replacing websites adsense code — smart yet evil concept. The things ppl would rather do than make an honest living! I think nowadays, people just make viruses to make money. No one cares about destroying your computer anymore. I think they do it to keep us busy. Nothing can ruin your day like finding a virus.
Especially like mentioned in your post, when it comes from a trusted site that you have to buy the full program to remove it! Nothing more, nothing less. A Trojan is not necessarily a virus, nor is a Worm or a Keylogger. They all have different and seperate meanings. Look it up! A virus is simply a program that makes the computer run abnormally or messes up settings inside.
A successful Trojan will run in the background and will be virtually unnoticed by the user, therefore it is not a virus. A keylogger will record keystrokes. If it sends them back to a source, it can also be a trojan. A worm is simply a program that automatically copies itself. Viruses are EASY to make, with little programming knowledge. I can make one in as little as 5 minutes and it would not be detected by any modern virus detector.
The hardest way but most commonly successful is using an Internet Explorer security hole, of which you usually have to find yourself. The other way is by getting the user to download it thinking that it is a legitimate file. NOW, there is one type of virus that to my belief would even get past a Virtual Machine running an operating system. That would be an MBR virus. There is a new strain that could successfully attack Windows from the outside, running arbitrary code once logged in.
I now need to buy an external harddrive in order to backup my GB of data in order to format to get rid of the virus in the boot record. That is actually what I was working on before I got infected, ironically enough. Good thing, I guess because before that I never knew it was possible for an MBR virus to run arbitrary code in that manner.
After research, I found that a company created and released their source code for an example of the method the same one used , knowing that it could and probably would be used for virus purposes.
Alright guys. For those of you that believe that hackers should go die bare with me im on your side. Listen guys im not a hacker or a programmer or anything like that im a person who wants to get rid of these people as well. Well look at it this way. We have gotten a sense of safety from them we are all scared of exchanging credit card information, why? Yes we have grown to hate hackers because of what they do and who they are and the cruelty of there doings but i dont think we would go very far with out them.
Let me tell you this guys i once wanted to be a cool old hacker, look at how movies make hackers look, Look at them unstoppable forces. Gives you the sense of curiosity doesnt it, gives you a mind set of I want to learn how to do this it looks really cool. Im a 15 years of age and yes i admit of wanting to be a hacker once but look guys its just like a gang hackers are just people like cyber terrorists theyre morals are lets take everyone down, I have stopped this i dont want to be one of them, this is one story you might hear from people who fight hackers and want to take them out.
I once wanted to be a hacker but i got out of the situation i took all of the knowledge i learned from trying to be one and from seeing the utter destruction that they did i am dedicated to stop them. I believe you guys have covered up why people make viruses but i have answered the question as to why they become hackers, curiosity. Anybody is capable of destruction its just about the morals of the person behind the destruction and the people willing to stop it. But trojans and spyware are motivated by profit.
The way I see it, there are 2 main reasons. If he is dishonest, or out of a job, or someone just offers him a ton of money to do it, the lure may be too great. Poor losers. I entered a website today and windows live automaticly recognized a trojan then I was ofered a spyware removal program and the window for my computer poped up and it showed hundreds of trojans Shared documents trojans my documents trojans and so on What could create so many trojans.
The way i see it they are the messed up ones. They WILL die pathetic virgins. And if they ever got caught they would face cyber terrorism charges. I can understand the anger that most of you feel, but the hatred that you guys express is ridiculous or at the very least misdirected.
Hackers are not the people you should be angry with, in fact you should be thanking them. Most viruses are written by someone who is either angry about something or trying to prove a point. Most of the destruction caused is by people who pay for a virus, trojan, or worm to be written, not the coder. If any group were to deserve this kind of hatred, which no one should, are the script kiddies.
In closing, think before you post inflammatory comments, then do a little research. I think that the same people that write anti-virus programs are writing viruses. Organized crime over the internet…….. They are just board sick bastard with too much time on their hands I mean come on what person with a life and a right mind would create a virus?!
If a dude would like to be a soldier.. These were for the most part, however, more of annoyances than real problems.
They might mess up your system but they would not for most people at least ruin your life. By the turn of the century, spam was big business. But in order to send out a lot of spam, you needed a lot of computers. And to keep from getting caught, they shouldn't be your own. Enter botnets. Viruses allowed spammers to capture and control users' computers remotely.
They could use infected machines to ensnare other computers, sending out not just offers for herbal viagra, but phishing attacks and keystroke loggers that give them access to bank and financial data and personal information. By , the point of malware writing had largely changed. Fuck proof of concept. Now it's for money. There's also another reason that malware writers have surged: Microsoft Windows XP. That ancient system is, unbelievably, still the most widely used operating system on the planet.
It's installed on more than 50 percent of all machines connected to the Internet, and it's very insecure. Of course you will target that. But now there are organized criminal gangs, making millions from their attacks. When we shut down their operations, they know who we are. It's not just a hypothetical fear. Ivan Eugene Kaspersky, who owns one of the world's leading anti-virus security labs, had his son Ivan snatched off the streets of Moscow earlier this year.
Whether there was a revenge motivation, in addition to the ransom, is still unclear. But the fact remains that anti-virus guys are now effectively standing between the mob and big piles of money. Which is never a very safe place to be.
And if that wasn't bad enough, now there's a new, potentially deadlier, source of viruses: governments. Do you want it? He leans over and slaps his computer bag on the side. I decline. I know it's not, say, smallpox, but sitting next to the most sophisticated computer virus ever created is oddly worrisome. Stuxnet upped the ante.
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