Question

1. What is cybercrime? What are some examples of it?
2. What is malware? Describe and differentiate between viruses, worms, Trojan horses, logic bombs, time bombs, spyware, etc.
3. What are security patches and antivirus software? How do they fit in to modern methods of combatting malware?
4. What are hacking, Webjacking, and DoS attacks?

The essay should be at least 300 words and not copied, the words should be self written.

Answer 1

Please find my answer for Q2.

Please repost other questions in separate post.

Virus: Small pieces of software that attach themselves to real programs.

The term “virus” is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, adware, and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability.
A true virus can spread from one computer to another (in some form of executable code).
Viruses can increase their chances of spreading on to other computers by infecting files on a network file system or a file system that is accessed by another computer.
Viruses always mostly corrupt or modify system files on the targeted computer.
Worm: A self-replicating program

The major difference between a virus and a worm is that worm does not attach itself to other existing program as viruses do .
Worms spread across networks due to poor security of the infected computers.
Asthis type of infection runs by itself it can have devastating impacts.
Worm Viruses Include: lovgate.F, sobig.D ,trile. C
Trojan Horses: Allow the hackers to gain remote access of a target system.

Once a Trojan horse has been installed on a target computer system, the hacker can access it remotely and perform various operations.
Trojans can illegally trace important login details of users online
E-Banking is very common among users, therefore, vulnerability of tracing user’s login details, if the system is infected with Trojan Horse

Malware: stands for malicious software

Malware is a broad term that refers to a variety of malicious programs.
Software that can be used to compromise computer functions, steal data, bypass access controls, or otherwise cause harm to the host computer.
Adware: Advertisement-supported software

They are generally spread through download of a software from an untrusted source from Internet
It is any software package that automatically delivers advertisements
Common examples of adware include pop-up ads on websites and advertisements that are displayed by software. Often times software and applications offer “free” versions that come bundled with adware.
Spyware: The spy inside your PC

It is program that is put in someone’s computer to secretly gather information about the user and relay it to advertisers or other interested parties.
Spyware can get in a computer as a software virus or as a result of installing a new program.

Ransomware holds a computer system, or the data it contains, hostage against its user by demanding a ransom for its restoration.

It is considered a “scareware” as it forces users to pay a fee (or ransom) by scaring or intimidating them
Some ransomware encrypts files called “cryptolocker”.
Ransomware can be downloaded by the unwitty users through some websites. They may also arrive as a payload, either dropped or downloaded by other malware. Some ransomware are delivered as attachments to spammed email.
Shortcut virus: creates shortcut files everywhere in the pc, results in disk space consumption.

RootKit :Activated each time your system boots up.

Difficult to detect because they are activated before your system’s Operating System has completely booted up.
Email Virus: Virus spread via an email.

Such a virus hides in an email and the effect is seen when the recipient opens the mail.
Examples of email virus’s are the Melissa Virus, and the ILOVEYOU virus.
Browser Hijacker :Changes web browser’s home page and default search provider to a different one without user’s permission.

It infects certain browser functions especially in form of re-directing the user automatically to certain sites.
Browser Hijackers Include sojou.com, ask toolbar, Conduit search

Bots: Sophisticated types of crimeware.

They are similar to worms and Trojans
They perform a wide variety of automated tasks on behalf of their master (the cybercriminals) who are often safely located somewhere far across the Internet.