Concept in Definition ABC

Although we all speak colloquially on a regular basis of "virus" to refer to the software harmful to our computer, in reality viruses are only a case, a specific type of these programs, whose generic name is malware, an acronym for "bad software."

From the idealized pirates to the most sophisticated crime

The roots of the current malware they sink into the same deep history of the Internet; one of the first creations that fits the definition of “software pernicious ”is the worm created by Robert Tappan Morris, the first program to reproduce itself on a network computing, created in 1988.

In those early days, many of those who created malware they were nothing more than pranksters (VERY heavy) who enjoyed cherishing the idea of ​​erasing all the contents of the HDD Internet users' computers, or idealists whose creations were limited to circulating vindictive messages of all kinds.

I still remember a copy that, once installed on a computer, every time the user typed the words Reagan (by Ronald Reagan, US president from 1981 to 1989), Thatcher (Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister from 1978 to 1990) or Botha (Pieter Botha, Prime Minister of South Africa from 1978 to 84), replaced them with a insult. He did nothing else.

At first, there was no way of profit from malware, only to do harm (something that, for example, could be good for armies and services of intelligence for electronic warfare), but with the evolution of the Internet came banking services, websites began to ask users to give them personal data that could be used by criminals and, ultimately, mafias and criminals began to be interested in the possibilities of malware.

Nowadays, any "romantic" or burlesque trace that could exist at the beginning in the world of malware has remained erased in favor of use as a criminal tool by mafias and individuals, the so-called "Cybercriminals".

There is a whole underworld dedicated to this shady business, an underworld that can be contacted on the Deep Web, the Deep web.

Malware types

Over time and its evolution, malware took various forms, depending on what they do to infect a computer and the actions they take afterwards, the specimens specializing in carrying out tasks concrete.

Mixing some concepts, within the world of malware we could distinguish the following types:

• Virus. This is a very generic term, which includes all programs that propagate themselves, copying themselves from machine to machine, each time they manage to infect a new computer. The computer virus normally carries what is called a “load”, and that is nothing more than a series of actions that it executes after some time after having infected the machine (days or weeks). Self-reproduction is their main characteristic, while what they can do on the victim's computer does not define them.
• Ransomware. Perhaps the most recent term incorporated into the terminology of the malware. Identifies a type of software that, once it has managed to install itself on the victim's computer, what it does is encrypt all data files (documents, photos, videos, ...) with strong encryption and using a password that the user does not know, so that the user cannot decrypt the files. Then, it presents a hijacking message, asking for an amount of money in exchange for providing the password to the user. Some organizations have the sophistication (as well as the cheek) to offer authentic hotline to support its “clients” (the victims) so that they can carry out their payments through methods that are difficult to trace, such as Bitcoins.
• Phishing. It is called like this because of its resemblance to the act of fishing: a hook is thrown (usually via email, the bait) that contains a link to a page that imitates another legitimate one and in which private data of the Internet user is requested (the trap). For example, have you ever received an e-mail message that supposedly comes from your Bank and in which they are asked to fill out a form with their password and data to make transfers, under the pretext of a verification of safety? Well, do not follow them, contact your bank by phone or in person, and ask. Perhaps they are giving data to criminals that allow them to empty your account.
• Spyware. As the name suggests, it is malware that, once installed on our computer, is dedicated to spying on us with the intention of extracting passwords and other data such as bank keys to be able to carry out online operations. Like real spies, it is stealthy, and we will not realize that it is installed on our system ...

• Addware. The most "harmless" of all, because more than "attack", annoying. Their mission is simply to show us advertising compulsively, so it can turn daily work with our computer into a little hell.
• Trojans. As its name already suggests, we are faced with a pathogen that enters our systems camouflaged within something else, which could well be a legitimate program. In this way, when installing said software, we also installed a malware.
• Backdoors. What it does is open a "back door" in a computer system that allows a cybercriminal to remotely control the infected machine, which can be used to launch attacks against other machines such as denial of services.

There are other types, but basically they are variants of the ones we see here exposed, such as the keyloggers, what would be spyware.

What to do to protect ourselves from malware?

The first recommendation is to have a software suitable on our computer, such as a antivirus and a firewall, updated and properly configured. There are programs of this type both free and paid.

The second is to use common sense, for example, not to click on the first link sent to us by email.

Photos: iStock - vm / lvcandy

Topics in Malware