Malware - Malicious Software

1. Definition of Malware
2. Why does Malware Exist?
4. Types of Malware (not exclusive)
   1. Worms
   2. Virus
      1. Boot Sector Virus
      2. Macro Viruses
      3. E-mail virus
   3. Trojan Horse
   4. Logic Bomb
   5. Adware
   6. Spyware

Definition of Malware

Malware is a generic term for any software deemed to be malicious--software designed to do damage. Malware can destroy files, disable or shut down applications, allow others access to information or to secretly control a computer from a remote location.

Why Does Malware Exist?

Malware exists because the person who created the malware finds the software useful in achieving their goals. Throughout this website, we will call such individuals 'crackers' as their goal is to crack the protection of various computer and network systems to gain access to computing resources or data they have no authority or authorization to obtain.

Logic Bombs

Malware began with logic bombs. A computer programmer might feel that one of his goals is to stay employed and appear useful. Another goal might be to hurt the company if he is fired or laid off. On rare occasions, unscrupulous programmers working on software projects would add functions in the software they wrote that would cause the program to fail or to misplace or delete data. They did this for a number of reasons, usually for either job security or revenge (or both). By creating a logic bomb, a programmer (who was usually the only person who understood how the company's software worked) could guarantee his job by causing the software to cause mainor failures or to disrupt other applications in a small but significant way, thus requiring his intervention to correct the so-called 'problem'. Sometimes these bombs did nothing as long as the programmer was still around to keep the bomb ticking (logging in regularly, or running a script or resetting a value in a hidden file). The bomb would not go off until the programmer was laid off or fired and could not reset the bomb. The results of a logic bomb could be disastrous. A company could lose data, find its main application erased or find the entire mainframe had become inoperable.

The Morris Internet Worm (Nov. 1988)

 

 

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