The term malware came from “Malicious software”. It is
the software designed to damage, disturb and disrupts normal operations or to
steal data. There are different types of malwares. The four main types are
1.
Virus: A virus is a malware attached to
another program. Typically a virus requires human interaction to spread. It can
be attached with an email or any other shared file.
2.
Worm: A worm is similar to virus. It will not
attached to another program and comes as standalone program. It can be
automatically spread by using the weaknesses in the operating system
3.
Adware: Adware is a software which will
generate a popup window periodically to buy some products or some service. Even
though it is harmless, will be annoying for users.
4.
Spyware: Usually offers something free, and will ask to
complete a survey and when you click the submit button it will execute. It can
be used to steal information from your system.
5.
Trojan: A Trojan comes as helpful program and
may provide some helpful functions. But in the background it will do the
malicious activity.
6.
Rootkits: A rootkit
is a type of software designed to hide the fact that an operating system has
been compromised, sometimes by replacing vital executables. Rootkits
allow viruses and
malware to “hide in plain sight” by disguising as necessary files that your
antivirus software will overlook. A rootkit operates at the kernel level and
very hard to find for an Antivirus.
7.
Ransomware: It is a kind of
malware that will lock or encrypt files and demands payment to decrypt.
8.
Botnets: Botnet is the short for robot and
network, as they do human activities like sending mails, browse web etc. A bot
combined with the virus can send email as you from your system.
Protecting
System from Malware
To protect from malware you should install an antivirus to your system. Antivirus is the
software used to remove malwares. Most antivirus uses the definition files,
which are the list of all known malware. Each vendor will update their
definition files periodically. Because of these updates you should update your
antivirus to get the latest definition files. Antivirus checks any
newly downloaded program to ensure that it is malware-free. It periodically
scans the computer to detect and defeat any malware that might have slipped
through.
There are so many
antivirus vendors like popular Norton, Kaspersky, McAfee, Malwarebytes etc.
You can choose the desired one based on the resource usage and other options
they provide.
One of the
most popular ways to spread malware is by email, which may be disguised to look
as if it is from a familiar company such as a bank, or a personal email from a
friend. So personal vigilance also required to protect against the malware.
There are so many free rootkit removal tools like Kaspersky TDSSkiller, Malwarebytes anti rootkit etc. available in the internet. You can run them frequently along with the
antivirus.
Limiting User Rights
Least privilege is a
key component of protecting against any malware, including ransomware. If users
don’t need admin rights to their systems, don’t give it to them. That way,
malware may not even be able to run on their system since most types must be
executed. Limiting file system access on network shares to Read for data that
users don’t need to make changes to will prevent ransomware from encrypting
those files. Eliminating shares that are open to all, or worse, allow anonymous
access, is always recommended, but can reduce the scope of damage ransomware
could cause.
Backup
Always take the backup of your important
files to alternate location like external storage or cloud storage like OneDrive
or google drive.
