Malware: Computing's Dirty Dozen
By Joel Walsh
It seems that no sooner do you feel safe turning on your computer than you hear on the news about a
new kind of internet security threat. Usually, the security threat is some kind of malware (though the term
"security threat" no doubt sells more newspapers).
What is malware? Malware is exactly what its name implies: mal (meaning bad, in the sense of
malignant or malicious rather than just poorly done) + ware (short for software). More
specifically, malware is software that does not benefit the computer's owner, and may even
harm it, and so is purely parasitic.
The Many Faces of Malware
According to Wikipedia, there are in fact eleven distinct types of malware, and even more sub-
types of each.
1. Viruses. The malware that's on the news so much, even your grandmother knows what it is.
You probably already have heard plenty about why this kind of software is bad for you, so
there's no need to belabor the point.
2. Worms. Slight variation on viruses. The difference between viruses and worms is that viruses
hide inside the files of real computer programs (for instance, the macros in Word or the VBScript
in many other Microsoft applications), while worms do not infect a file or program, but rather
stand on their own.
3. Wabbits. Be honest: had you ever even heard of wabbits before (outside of Warner Bros.
cartoons)? According to Wikipedia, wabbits are in fact rare, and it's not hard to see why: they
don't do anything to spread to other machines. A wabbit, like a virus, replicates itself, but it does
not have any instructions to email itself or pass itself through a computer network in order to
infect other machines. The least ambitious of all malware, it is content simply to focus on utterly
devastating a single machine.
4. Trojans. Arguably the most dangerous kind of malware, at least from a social standpoint.
While Trojans rarely destroy computers or even files, that's only because they have bigger
targets: your financial information, your computer's system resources, and sometimes even
massive denial-of-service attack launched by having thousands of computers all try to connect
to a web server at the same time.
5. Spyware. In another instance of creative software naming, spyware is software that spies on
you, often tracking your internet activities in order to serve you advertising. (Yes, it's possible to
be both adware and spyware at the same time.)
6. Backdoors. Backdoors are much the same as Trojans or worms, except that they do
something different: they open a "backdoor" onto a computer, providing a network connection
for hackers or other malware to enter or for viruses or sp@m to be sent out through.
7. Exploits. Exploits attack specific security vulnerabilities. You know how Microsoft is always
announcing new updates for its operating system? Often enough the updates are really trying to
close the security hole targeted in a newly discovered exploit.
8. Rootkit. The malware most likely to have a human touch, rootkits are installed by crackers
(bad hackers) on other people's computers. The rootkit is designed to camouflage itself in a
system's core processes so as to go undetected. It is the hardest of all malware to detect and
therefore to remöve; many experts recommend completely wiping your hard drive and
reinstalling everything fresh.
9. Keyloggers. No prïze for guessing what this software does: yes, it logs your keystrokes, i.e.,
what you type. Typically, the malware kind of keyloggers (as opposed to keyloggers deliberately
installed by their owners to use in diagnosing computer problems) are out to log sensitive
information such as passwords and financial details.
10. Dialers. Dialers dial telephone numbers via your computer's modem. Like keyloggers,
they're only malware if you don't want them. Dialers either dial expensive premium-rate
telephone numbers, often located in small countries far from the host computer; or, they dial a
hacker's machine to transmit stolen data.
11. URL injectors. This software "injects" a given URL in place of certain URLs when you try to
visit them in your browser. Usually, the injected URL is an affïliate link to the target URL. An
affïliate link is a special link used to track the traffïc an affïliate (advertiser) has sent to the
original website, so that the original website can pay commissions on any salës from that
traffïc.
12. Adware. The least dangerous and most lucrative malware (lucrative for its distributors, that
is). Adware displays ads on your computer. The Wikipedia entry on malware does not give
adware its own category even though adware is commonly called malware. As Wikipedia notes,
adware is often a subset of spyware. The implication is that if the user chooses to allow adware
on his or her machine, it's not really malware, which is the defense that most adware companies
take. In reality, however, the choice to install adware is usually a lëgal farce involving placing a
mention of the adware somewhere in the installation materials, and often only in the licensing
agreement, which hardly anyone reads.
Are you ready to take on this dirty dozen? Don't go it alone. Make sure you have at least one
each of antivirus and antispyware.
