Information Security Malware Denotes Malicious Software - Samples

Question: Discuss about the Information Security Malware Software. Answer: Introduction The term 'Malware' denotes malicious software. This kind of system software is being designed specifically in order to create discrepancies in the computer system. The owner has no idea of the fact that the system is being accessed (Rouse, 2017). The software is said to be malicious as the owner or the end user has no clue regarding the damage caused to the system. The developer of such software has the access of the system, rather than the owner or the user, this marks it to be malicious. The main purpose behind building such software is to extract the personal information of the users from their system. And also, there are certain factors that contribute in making the computer system accessible for such types of software (Hoffman, 2014). Such factors are defect in the operation system of the computer network, same network responsible for the running of the entire computers etc. The initiation phase of the malware was completely different, as compared to its present day usage. The m alwares, in their initial phase were being used for the purpose of experiments as well as pranks. But, in the contemporary times, the malwares are used in order to earn secret profits (Computerhope, 2017). The developers aim to earn secret profit through the means of: Spreading email spam (zombie computers) Stealing or accessing relevant and confidential information (spyware) Forced advertisements (adware) Money extortion (ransomware) Background The concept of virus was developed with the publication of the research paper "Computer Viruses-Theory and Experiments". The research paper was being written in the year 1984, by the Professor Fred Cohen (Cohen, 1984). The author highlighted the main ideas related to the power and ability of these viruses to impact the system, how such viruses find their pathways to the computer systems, and also the preventive measures that can be adopted to prevent the computer from such viruses. According to the authors, if a system is very much in sharing of abundant and bulk data and does not uses the preventive measures, then, such systems are being adversely impacted by the attack of the viruses. Ralph Burger, in the year 1987 initiated to focus on the concept of idea and the results that he obtained from his research were being written through the book "Computer Viruses: A High Tech Disease" (Burger, 1988). The author through his book aimed at letting the readers know about the origination of the viruses as well as their functioning. This resulted in sharing of the information which is related with the designing and development of the viruses. People started using the ways for developing the viruses that were being mentioned in the book for the purpose of prank and experiments. As the internet came into the picture, since 1990, the security of the reports also increased. The viruses named Melissa as well as Michaelangelo were considered as the fresh as well as the most dangerous viruses (King of Gng, 2014). Along with the development of the viruses, the technology for virus likes bots and botnets were being developed (Norton, 2017). As the concept of internet was becoming popular among the people, it soon started with the sharing of the personal as well as private and business information. This turned out to be a serious issue as the confidential and relevant information of the people was being leaked. (Economic Times, 2017). For the cyber security department, it became difficult to trace such hackers who had an unauthorized access over the personal information of the individuals. This impacted not only the personal computers of the individuals or business organization, but also the confidential information of the government department and officials. With the growing issues of security, the risk to the personal details and information is also increasing. There is a heavy need to implement the safety measures that shall ensure privacy to the users, because in the contemporary era, the people are very much inclined towards the use of technologies and digital methods for the sake of payment and other purposes. As t he number of online transactions is being increasing, so is the sharing of confidential information and also the risk of getting the information leaked. Impact of Malware The mails which are not composed by the user are sent to any recipient, without the user's knowledge. The malware has the ability of hijacking the browser, which leads to the redirection of the users to various inappropriate and harmful sites. It has a direct impact on the efficiency of the operating system of the computer. The speed and accuracy of the system is reduced, as the files and programs, within the system gets infected due to malware attack (Magalhaes, 2012). Types of Malware In the initial phase, it was only virus that was considered as malicious software and had the ability to threat and risks the security issues of the information. But, as the time passed, new malwares has been developed by the hackers in order to get an unauthorized access over someone else's system and information (Study.com, 2017). Such malware types are: Spyware: the purpose of such type of malware is to have an access over the personal information that is being shared. The purpose is to transfer such information from the computer system to another system that is of the third party. It aims to send the malware back to the system, and spies on all the internet based activities of the users. Worms: this type of malware is similar to the malware of virus. This malware is being named 'worm' as it moves from one system to another without the need of any human actions. Worms multiplies within the system, gets attached to the files in the system and hunts for the pathways between two systems that are involved in sharing information and media within each other. Viruses: this malware gets attached with different programs and files. These files and programs are those which are being downloaded or installed on the user's computer system. The viruses multiply themselves when the file or the program that is infected is being transferred from one system to another. A virus is capable of damaging data files, hampering the performance of the system and corrupting the data stored on the system. Adware: the advertisements that pops up on the website while using the internet is the adware type of malware. Such malwares are hidden within the files or programs that are being downloaded and installed in the system. The aim of the adware is that the user clicks on the displayed advertisement once. By doing so, a third party shall make money, just out of the one click done by the user. Trojan: this is considered as the most dangerous and harmful type of malware that attacks on the financial information of the user and also plans to take over the resources of the computer system. In the large network of systems, the malware creates the 'denial of service attack'. This is an attempt that enables a system to make the computer system resources unavailable for those who make an attempt to reach it. Rootkit: this type of malware is considered to be the most difficult and hardest, out of all the malwares to get detected. It is very difficult for the users to know that there system has been impacted by this malware type. This is the reason that the experts have recommended to erase off the drives and also install each and every program again. (Malware Truth, 2017) Tools for Counter-Attacking Malwares With the rising security issues and development of various types of malwares, there are certain tools that have been developed in order to counter attack such malwares, to protect the system from the threat of such malwares. Such tools are: Antivirus software: this software of Antivirus has the ability to perform the scanning process along with deleting and blocking those files and programs that have become corrupted due to the virus attack. This development, in order to provide data security is considered to be a successful one. This software does not entirely eliminate the risk from the viruses, but has the ability to forecast and mitigate the risk from the viruses and hence, is considered as the most reliable method of counter attacking. In order to detect malwares, the software uses two- step processes. Initially, looking for the suspicious activities is the step one and in the other step, the software scans the entire system. The company developing such software has installed various systems in the software in order to detect the viruses. Antivirus software is needed to be updated on a regular basis. (Webroot, 2017) Spam filter: the world of internet has infinite malwares within it. Various sites on the internet consist of spam as well as malicious software, which harm the system of the user. Though people are getting aware about such types, there are still some systems that get harmed by such malwares. A spam filter works in many ways and the most common way is that it scans and filters the spam in the e-mails. This method is effective but is time consuming too (University of Pennsylvania, 2017). Firewall: the firewall software has the ability to counter attack the malwares that are being infecting the system as well as leaking the confidential information of the users. The software keeps a trace of the files and programs and allows the user to transfer such programs and files, wherever they want, at a safe destination. When the data are being on a large scale, such software is being preferred. If there is no malicious file attached with the data, then only the firewall allows the sharing of the data (Rouse, firewall, 2017). Conclusion With the development in the internet services, the risk of getting the information leaked is also increasing. The various types of malwares have an impact on the files and programs of the system. However, there are various software development companies, which have developed various software in order to counter attack the malwares. Apart from this, it is necessary for a user to install and update these anti malware programs on a regular basis so that they do not fall prey to cyber criminals. References Burger, R. (1988). Computer viruses: a high-tech disease. Abacus. Cohen, F. (1984). Computer Viruses - Theory and Experiments. Retrieved from Web.eecs.umich.edu: https://web.eecs.umich.edu/~aprakash/eecs588/handouts/cohen-viruses.html Computerhope. (2017, April 26). Why do people create viruses and malware? Retrieved from Computer Hope: https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001404.htm Economic Times. (2017). Definition of 'Cyber Security'. Retrieved from https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/definition/cyber-security Hoffman, C. (2014, March 3). Who is Making All This Malware and Why? Retrieved from How-To Geek: https://www.howtogeek.com/183642/who-is-making-all-this-malware-and-why/ King of Gng. (2014, March 30). Michelangelo and Melissa, the mass hysteria computer viruses. Retrieved from Sir Arthur's Den: https://kingofgng.com/eng/2014/03/30/michelangelo-and-melissa-the-mass-hysteria-computer-viruses/ Magalhaes, R. (2012, August 22). Malwares impact, serious and long lasting. Retrieved from TechGenix: https://techgenix.com/malwares-impact-serious-long-lasting/ Malware Truth. (2017). The Truth About Malware. Retrieved from https://www.malwaretruth.com/the-list-of-malware-types/ Norton. (2017). Bots and BotnetsA Growing Threat. Retrieved from https://us.norton.com/botnet/ Rouse, M. (2017). firewall. Retrieved from TechTarget: https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/firewall Rouse, M. (2017). Malware (malicious software). Retrieved from TechTarget: https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/malware Study.com. (2017). What is Malware? - Definition, Examples Types. Retrieved from https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-malware-definition-examples-types.html University of Pennsylvania. (2017). How does the spam filter work? Retrieved from https://www.seas.upenn.edu/cets/answers/spamblock-filter.html Webroot. (2017). What is Anti-Virus Software? Retrieved from https://www.webroot.com/in/en/home/resources/tips/pc-security/security-what-is-anti-virus-software