Malicious Attacks

Introduction

• Commonly referred to as: malicious software/ “malware”, computer viruses

• Designed to enter computers without the owner’s permission

Background

• Started out as “pranks,” more annoying than harmful, created by programmers to see range until around 1999

• 2001 viruses started to be used as forms as vandalism: destroying files, corrupting system

• 2003 Broadband Internet profit promotion via email spam, spyware advertising

• Viruses first spread via floppy disks activated when program runs or disk boots

• 1990 Microsoft Windows platform rising of “macro viruses”—damage documents instead of applications

Recovery Methods

• System Restore – restores the registry and critical system files to a previous checkpoint

• Reinstall the operation system – 1. reformat the computer’s hard drive 2. install OS from its original media

• These methods are simpler and faster than most anti-virus software

• However, the computer’s user preferences must be restored every time; while backing up software, one may put another computer in danger

• Anti-virus software prevents, detects, and removes viruses from computers (sometimes downgrades a computer’s performance

Phishing

Phishing

• Phishing: attempting to get private information like usernames and passwords by pretending to be a trustworthy source.

• Usually takes place through email and instant messaging– Links that prompt one to put info into what looks

like a legitimate site.

• First known case of Phishing was done in 1996

• Started with cases in AOL, then moved to financial institutions

• Social Networking Sites are now the target of Phishing

• Most methods of phishing make a link appear to belong to a fake organization. – Misspelled URLs or the use of sub domains are

common tricks– Phishers have used images instead of text to make

it harder for anti-phishing filters to detect text commonly used in phishing e-mails

WHAT IS A COMPUTER VIRUS?

“A COMPUTER PROGRAM ABLE TO INFECT OTHER PROGRAMS BY

MODIFYING THEM TO INCLUDE A POSSIBLY EVOLVED VERSION OF

ITSELF”

TYPES OF VIRUSES

• BOOT PARTITION INFECTING VIRUS• EXECUTABLE FILE INFECTING VIRUS• MULTI-PART VIRUS• DIRECTORY INFECTING VIRUS

WHAT CAN THEY DO?

• FORMAT DISK• COPY, RENAME, AND DELETE FILES• COPY THEMSELVES WITH NEW

CONFIGURATION INFORMATION• MODIFY FILE DATES AND EXTENTIONS• CALL OTHER COMPUTERS TO UPLOAD AND

DOWNLOAD FILES

HOW DO THEY DO IT?

• APPENDING• INSERTION• INTERCEPTION• REDIRECTION• REPLACEMENT

Prevention

• Install software such as; firewalls, a spyware scanner, a Trojan horse program, and antivirus programs• Run up to date scans

• Don’t download materials from questionable sources

• Remove unused communication ports• Understand how an attack could happen

so you see one coming

Conclusion

• There are six types of malicious attacks: trojan horses, worms, viruses, hoaxes, spam, and phishing

• Good computer practices can help a user minimize the threat of a malicious attack