Hi. This is Dr. Gerald Raysi. This short video is an introduction to malware or what's otherwise known as malicious software.
Malware, short for malicious software, consists of programming (code, scripts, active content, and other software) designed to disrupt or deny operation, gather information that leads to loss of privacy or exploitation, gain unauthorized access to system resources, and other abusive behavior. Software is considered to be malware based on the perceived intent of the creator rather than any particular features.
Malware includes viruses, worms, Trojan horses, spyware, adware, scareware, crimeware, and rootkits. The term "virus" is also commonly, but erroneously, used to refer to other types of malware, including, but not limited to, adware and spyware.
A computer worm, depicted here in this figure, is a self-replicating malware program, which used a computer network to send copies of itself to other nodes, whereas virus is a piece of code that attaches to an executable file. When the executable file is run, then the virus becomes active. Trojan horse, or Trojan, is software that appears to perform a desirable function for the user prior to run or install, but (perhaps in addition to the expected function) steals information or harms the system. Spyware is a type of malware that can be installed on computers, and which collects small pieces of information about users without their knowledge or consent.
Keyloggers play a role in spyware as well, and sometimes spyware shows up in the form of a pop-up such as this one, "Congratulations, you have won prizes." Adware or advertisements, advertising-supported software, is any software package which automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertisements to a computer. These are the known adware sites, including the Gator password-holding site.
Scareware comprises several classes of scam software with malicious payloads, or of limited or no benefit, that are sold to consumers via certain unethical marketing practices, such as stating, "Your system may be infected. Let us scan for it," and, "Why don't you buy our software for $39.99 a month?" Crimeware is a class of malware designed specifically to automate cybercrime. Crimeware also often has the intent to export confidential or sensitive information from a network for financial exploitation.
Rootkits is another type of malware. It's software that enables continued privileged access to a computer while actively hiding its presence from administrators by subverting standard operating system functionality or other application. The term rootkit – "root," it comes from the traditional name of privileged account in Unix operating system, and "kit" refers to the software component that implements the tool.
Backdoors is a method of bypassing normal authentication procedures, such as the example here. This is a backdoor. If the user has typed in, "Lets!Forget1" with exclamation, the entire RADIUS authentication is bypassed and "true" is returned, where a person gets in through the backdoor.
Well, I hope this short video was helpful. Thank you very much.
[End of Audio]
[End of Transcript]