The term Malware is formed by combining Malicious and Software. Malware thus refers to malicious software, i.e. harmful programs. The term is an umbrella term covering various types of malicious software.
Types of Malware
- Trojan horses (Trojans)
- Trojans are malicious programs that hide in other files or programs. Similar to their historical namesakes from Greek mythology, they unfold their effect after they have slipped behind the defense lines of the target. In this way, they bypass typical protective measures such as firewalls and virus scanners. Recently, a special type of trojan, so-called encryption trojans, has gained great popularity. These malicious programs encrypt the contents of infected computers in order to extort a ransom payment. The English word for ransom is Ransom. This is why encryption trojans are also known as Ransomware.
- Viruses
- Computer viruses are characterized by the fact that, much like their biological namesakes, they try to reproduce themselves and thus infect further systems.
- Worms
- Computer worms resemble viruses in that they want to spread beyond the infected system. Compared to viruses, however, they do not do this passively; rather, they actively spread within computer networks. They do so, for example, by reading the address book of an infected computer and sending themselves by email to all contacts contained in it.
- Adware and Spyware
- These types of malware are special forms of trojans. They hide in supposedly useful software. Without the user's knowledge and consent, they send information about the user and their behavior over the internet to servers, or they display unwanted advertising and unwanted functions such as browser toolbars.
How does Malware work?
Malware is either installed by the user like any other software, or it installs itself unnoticed in the background. The actions it performs are not in the user's interest or even directly harm them, for example when the malware deletes or encrypts data. Backdoors are a common component of malware. These are functions that allow the malware authors to dynamically adapt and control it after installation. A common principle of malware is to first execute a relatively lean loader script, which then contacts a command and control server in order to download further malicious programs.How can I protect myself against Malware?
It is often suggested that end users can adequately protect themselves against all kinds of malicious software by using anti-virus software. In fact, anti-virus software targets not only viruses but also other types of malware. However, since in principle it can only detect known malware or known malware behavior, many malicious programs remain that can infect systems unnoticed. Critics of anti-virus software therefore complain that it gives users a false sense of security. Because anti-virus software often opens malicious programs for examination itself, security vulnerabilities in the anti-virus program can, in the worst case, even facilitate the spread of the malware.
For this reason, the recommendation is to view IT security as a comprehensive process and to establish multi-layered protection through a defense-in-depth strategy. The extent to which existing protective measures are actually effective can be determined through targeted security testing.
