good information.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rohiet A. Patil" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Cc: "Voice Vision. " <[email protected]>;
<[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, December 07, 2011 9:29 PM
Subject: [AI] Fw: keyboard -users What is the Difference Between Malware,
Virus, Rootkits, Spyware, Worm and Trojans
Taken from another list a very informative post.
Whenever your computer starts acting weird and makes it difficult for you
to work on, the first thing that comes to you mind is whether a virus has
affected your computer.
Some of those times, your fears might turn out to be true. Hence it helps
to know about these enemies of your computer and get a basic understanding
of
how they work. That could help you deal with them in a faster & better
way.
Malware is any malicious program or software that's designed to exploit a
computer user. Malware is basically an umbrella term covering computer
viruses,
worms, Trojan, spyware, rootkit etc. Some of 'em attack the computer
programs and files while others attack users confidential data. Let's have
a detailed
look at their mode of operation.
What is a Virus
Just as a biological virus replicates itself in a human cell, a computer
virus replicates itself in computer memory when initiated by the user.
Not only
they replicate themselves but may also contain some malicious codes which
can affect your files, your operating system or even your master boot
records
thereby making your
computer start slow
or not boot at all.
There are different types of viruses, some affect the system adversely and
leave it completely unusable while some are just written to annoy the
user. Disabling
task manager or
desktop wallpaper
is one of the most common ways that virus creators employ to irritate
users.
As a virus always needs a human action to initiate itself, in a computer
most of them attach themselves to an executable .exe file because it knows
eventually
the user will double click on it to run it and that's all it needs to
infect the computer. Yes, unfortunately, most viruses are inadvertently
initiated
by the computer users themselves and hence it is important that when you
install and run programs, you know beforehand that you got them from a
trusted
source.
What is a Worm
Practically a worm is an evolved form of a virus. Like virus, worms too
replicate and spread themselves but it happens on a bit larger scale.
Also, unlike
virus, a worm does not need a human action to replicate and spread and
that's what makes it more dangerous.
A worm always seeks for network loopholes to replicate from computer to
computer and thus most common way of intrusion are emails and IM
attachments. As
the infection is network-based, a good firewall along with antivirus is
necessary to control worm attack. Also, this means that blindly
downloading email
attachments or clicking the links friends share with you in a chat window
isn't recommended. Double-check before you do that.
What is a Trojan Horse
Trojan horse or simply Trojan is a bit interesting. Trojan horse is a
program that appears useful by pretending to do certain things in
foreground, but
in reality they are working silently in background with the only objective
of harming your computer and/or stealing valuable information.
Let me explain this metaphorically.
Suppose you are the CEO of a company and there's an employee in your firm
you think is a valuable asset because of some initial success he gave your
company.
In reality the employee is working for your competitor and destroying your
company from within. Now these kinds of employees can be considered as a
Trojan
horses if you consider the company as your computer.
Most common way to invite a Trojan horse to your computer is downloading
malicious software like keys, cracks, free illegal music, wares etc from
an unknown
source. Thus the best way to stay away from Trojans is by making sure you
install software from trusted sources.
What is a Spyware
Spywares are also malicious computer programs that can be installed on
computers but unlike any of the above they don't harm your computer in any
way. Instead,
they attack you!
Once installed on a system they run in background and keep on collecting
user's personal data. These data can include your credit card numbers,
passwords,
important files and many other personal stuff.
Spywares can track your keystrokes, scan and read your computer files,
snoop IM chats and emails and God knows what else. Therefore again it's
always advisable
to download and install software from trusted sources.
What is a Rootkit
Rootkits are computer programs that are designed by attackers to gain root
or administrative access to your computer. Once an attacker gains admin
privilege,
it becomes a cake walk for him to exploit your system.
We have already discussed
rootkit in detail
previously and you can have a look at it for in-depth knowledge.
Source:
http://www.guidingtech.com/8888/difference-between-malware-virus-rootkits-trojans-worm-spyware/
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