Cyber attacks have become more sophisticated and harder to identify and detect. The complexity and resilience make it extremely difficult to get rid of. As a result, there is an increasing need for effective strategies for detecting and protecting against malware. For this reason, a better understanding of malware and the latest trends in malware attacks can help individuals and organizations defend themselves from this persistent and constantly evolving threat.

What is malware?

Malware, an abbreviation for malicious software, is a harmful type of software that can infect and damage computer systems and networks. Malware can be used for a range of purposes, depending on the attacker’s intentions, including identity theft, intentional system damage, extortion of money from victims, or turning the victim’s computer into a part of a botnet. The frequency and impact of these attacks have risen significantly in recent years. To minimize the risk of infection, it is important to know about and understand the types and the vectors of infection.

Types of malware

There are tons of malware types and some of them are as follows.

Virus

As the name suggests, a virus is a kind of malware that can replicate itself. It needs to be triggered first by the user to be able to execute the program which differentiate it with the worm. A virus can do anything based on the attacker’s intention, from modifying, encrypting, or corrupting the data or even damaging the system. There are so many types of virus, such as file virus, macro virus, and script virus.

Worms

Unlike viruses, worms don’t require user intervention at all to run. It uses the network to propagate itself and jumps system to system within a network. WannaCry is one of the well-known ransomware that was very destructive in the past. It spreads rapidly and infects about 300,000 computers across 150 countries running Microsoft Windows OS. It relies on EternalBlue exploit on Server Message Block (SMB) to spread which was developed by NSA, and was leaked by a group of hackers known as The Shadow Brokers.

Ransomware and crypto malware

As we become increasingly reliant on our computers and gadgets, the data we store on them becomes more precious to us, whether for its sentimental value or the importance it holds in our work or personal lives. Data is the lifeblood of any business, particularly in a corporate setting where it often contains critical information that has a direct impact on many stakeholders, such as financial records, customer data, employee information, and other essential data points.

The attacker knows this and therefore can extort individuals or companies in exchange for some financial gain by utilizing the malware. The WannaCry case we mentioned earlier is a good example of how ransomware uses crypto malware which is quite new. This kind of ransomware encrypts the victim’s data and forces them to provide some money in order to decrypt their data.

Spyware

As the name says, spyware is a kind of malware that is able to spy on you. In this way, spyware can see any activities you do on the infected computer, such as your internet activity or credentials information that you had entered on your computer by utilizing the keylogger.

Adware

By utilizing adware, an attacker can use your system to display advertisements, allowing either the adware developer or the attacker to earn revenue from it. The ads can be shown anywhere within your system, whether in the main desktop, browser, while executing certain apps and so on. The ads are commonly shown as pop-ups and at the same time may cause performance issues on your system.

Trojan

A Trojan is a type of malware that appears to be a harmless and legitimate program but is actually intended to deceive and harm unsuspecting users. It doesn’t really care about replicating or propagating itself like viruses or worms. The focus is more into conquering your computer and in some cases may also be able to avoid any kind of detection or even disabling your antivirus. Trojan may also have an ability to create backdoors for other malwares. Besides, it may also have the ability to download other software which could affect the overall system performance known as PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program).

RAT

A Remote Access Trojan (RAT) is a malicious tool that grants third-party attackers full control over a system by providing them with remote access. This is a very dangerous type of malware as it can control anything in your operating system. If compromised, the attacker can arbitrarily do everything to track your activities with the computer, like recording everything you type, screen recording, silently accessing your computer webcam, or even locking you out from your own system.

Rootkit

The term ‘rootkit’ derives from the Unix or Linux concept which has complete control over your system. Despite this, it can infect any other system as well like Windows and MacOS. Unlike other kinds of malware, it doesn’t modify the file system but instead targets the kernel of the OS.

The kernel is an essential component of an operating system, serving as a foundational building block that provides critical functionality and serves as the core of the system. It is responsible for managing system resources such as memory CPU and memory,or everything that runs in the OS. Due to the kernel and OS integration, removing or identifying this kind of malware can be very difficult.

Botnet

The attackers may also include their victim’s computer in order to attack another system simultaneously. Victims may remain completely unaware that their systems have been infected and converted into a bot. Once infected, a computer may remain dormant until it receives a command from the Command & Control (C&C) server.

Why does the attacker want to do this in the first place? It is a common practice in DDOS attacks (Distributed Denial of Service) where multiple bots are sending requests at once to the target, with the reason of flooding the traffic and hence forcing it to become inaccessible.

Logic bomb

Logic bomb is the type of attack that is triggered when certain conditions are met. The trigger for the malware attack can take different forms, such as being based on a specific date or time, or being activated by a particular event or user action. It could be very hard to identify this type of attack since we might have no idea what it triggers as it doesn’t follow a known pattern.

How do you get the malware and prevent the infection?

Malware can be installed on a system for various reasons. Attackers may exploit system vulnerabilities to gain access, use backdoor access provided by another malware, or trick the user into downloading and installing the malicious software through social engineering tactics such as phishing emails or fake software updates.

There are also several attack vectors that are common for distributing the malware.

• Email attachment is one of the most known vectors for distributing malware. Link is often attached to it and uses any social engineering trick to get you to click the link. The emails are often impersonating known trusted third-party. To protect yourself, be cautious and scrutinize each email you receive.
• Malicious website is another popular choice for the attacker to distribute their malware. The attacker entices you to click on a particular link using a website pop-up is a very common technique. These websites are often equipped with drive by download ability, which is able to download a file or program on the users’ computer without the user’s consent. Some browsers warn you upon opening certain websites due to malicious website detection. For this reason, it is better to comply in order to avoid unwanted occurrences in the future.
• Outdated system and software vulnerabilities are often exploited by the attacker to compromise the device and execute malware. This is the reason why you should have your updated with the latest security patch.
• Fake or illegal software is a common malware attack vector because attackers can easily conceal malicious code within the software. Users who download and install this software may unknowingly infect their system with malware, potentially leading to data theft, system compromise, or other malicious activities.