Nowadays there are many identified threats
that could affect computer systems. New threats are also found frequently.
We will provide simple descriptions for the most commonly found threats
including viruses, trojans, worms, rootkits, spyware, adware, macros,
DoS, etc.
Viruses
Viruses are any programs that infect other application programs by adding
their own code to them and get control of the infected files or the application
programs. This explains how a computer virus can damage a computer system.
Trojans
Trojans can carry out unauthorized actions on computers, such as deleting
information on drives, stealing confidential information and so on. This
kind of threat is not a virus in the traditional sense of the word (meaning
it does not infect other computers). Trojans are widely spread by hackers.
Worms
Worms can exploit operating system vulnerabilities to spread itself. The
type was named for the way the worms crawl from computer to computer,
using networks and e-mail. This feature gives many worms a rather high
speed in spreading themselves. Worms can penetrate a computer, search
for network addresses of other computers, and send a burst of self-made
copies to those addresses. In addition to network addresses, worms often
utilize data from e-mail client address books.
Rootkits
Rootkits can modify computer operating systems and hide its own existence
and actions such that hackers can undertake on the infected computer.
Spyware
Spyware programs are designed to collect information from user's computer
without their knowledge. These programs monitor and records user activities
on computers and sent the information back to the developers. The collected
information will be shared with or sold to any third parties.
Adware
Adware programs are designed to display advertisements on computer. These
programs can also collect personal information on the computer system
and send it back to their developers. They can change browser settings
and create traffic that the user cannot control.
Macros
VBA programs have access to most Microsoft Windows systems such that it
can execute when documents are opened. This makes it relatively easy to
write computer viruses in VBA codes that are commonly known as macro viruses
or simply macros.
DoS
DoS (Denial-of-Service) attack is an attempt to make computer resources
unavailable to its users by massive external communications requests such
that it cannot respond to legitimate traffic or responds slowly. It can
make an Internet service or a communication application partly or totally
down.
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