PC-ER Malware Guide
Introduction
This guide is intended to give an overview of "malware" and help raise awareness of malicious software.
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What is Malware?
Malware is a term that is a shortened form of "malicious software". Malicious
software is any software that is written with the purpose of being harmful or
having a hidden intent.
Types of Malware
Rogue Security Software
For us, this is the most infuriating of the malware we are covering in this guide
so we wanted to get to it first. Rogue (or fake) security and antivirus software
has been by far the most common malware we have seen at PC-ER lately. This
software either tricks you into installing it, or installs as part of a Trojan
(see below).
The image to the right is just one of the many examples of what these programs
look like. The real problem with these is that they ask you to purchase the
"full version" in order to clean the supposed malware it finds. It is a complete
scam! Many of these also use rootkits (see below) to keep you from removing
them. We've even seen one that does a fake reboot with a fake message saying that
Microsoft recommends buying this software. BEWARE of these!
Viruses
Viruses are simply programs that are able to replicate themselves when they are
activated by a user. For example, a legitimate program or document may have
viral code attached it to so that when run or opened it searches out another
program or file to infect. Viruses may also have a "payload" that causes some
sort of mischief, such as deleting data, installing a Trojan or rootkit, or
installing spyware or adware. The term "virus" is often erroneously used to
refer to all types of malware.
Worms
A worm is similar to a virus except that it has the capability to transmit itself to
another host computer. Much of the malware you hear about in the media today are worms.
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