EACH N EVERY INTERNET USER SHOULD READ THIS!!!

Initially, programs were developed to eliminate the manual handling of data, but then we live in a wild world which also has conniving people who develop programs to create havoc. Creating viruses began as a prank but soon it took an ugly turn and it was used as a tool to harass netizens. Viruses are no longer touring the cyber world in solitude. Malware has stepped in. Malware is a collection of various malicious programs that are constantly on a damaging spree threatening Internet users.

Some common MALWARE terms

VIRUS :- It is a program that can replicate itself and affect normal operation of a computer without the permission or knowledge of the user.

POLYMORPHIC VIRUS : This type of a virus keeps changing its signature every time it replicates and infects a new file.

WORM : Unlike a virus, a worm is a program that is capable of replicating and spreading to various other systems without the need of a host file.

TROJAN : It is a program that contains or installs a malicious program though it appears to be a genuine one.

SPYWARE : Such type of software collects personal information about the users without their informed consent.

ADWARE :These software are capable of playing, displaying, or downloading advertising material automatically to a computer after it is installed on it.

BACKDOOR : It is a program that can bypass normal authentication to gain remote access to a computer and remain hidden from cursory inspection.

BOTNET : It is a network of computers controlled by a Bot developer.

ROOTKIT : These software tools hide some malicious running processes, files or system data from the operating system.

KEY-LOGGER : It is a program that is used to capture the user's keystrokes.

Fraudulent Dialers: It is a program that that installs a malicious program.

PHISHING : It is a fake website appearing to be a genuine one in orderto extract personal details from users.

PHARMING : Pharming is aimed to redirect a website's traffic to another phoney website.

Future of Malware

Earlier viruses were developed to gain fame, but these days Malware is being developed for commercial purpose. Hence, the trend of developing more deadly Malware is going to continue in big way. There has been an upsurge of programmers who develop and sell Malware for financial gains.

For instance, a Bot is developed to track a PC not patched for certain vulnerability and is connected to the Internet. Once these PCs are detected, the Bot is loaded into all these PCs and when these are spread over a network of thousands to a million PCs they are known as a Botnet. The author of the Bot now has control of all the PCs that are infected by the Bot created by him and now he can get various viruses or Trojans downloaded into the various infected PCs. This Botnet is then sold to a potential buyer, such as an adware developer who wants their ads to appear across all the PCs. The adware developer in this case instructs the Botnet owner to download a certain Trojan that contains his ads into the infected computers and within seconds the entire set of PC's in that Botnet are infected.

In case of phishing websites, the buyer of the Botnet can lead you to a fake website that pose as a genuine secure website, misleading you into entering your bank account details and this information is passed on to malicious users for fraudulent activities. A Botnet created in one country may spread rapidly in some other faraway nation. Bringing such Malware creators to justice is not possible because the cyber laws of all nations are not the same and worse—some nations do not have any. With the advancement in mobile networks as 3G gets introduced offering fast Internet, these new avenues will enable fraudsters get quicker access to people's personal information. Viruses can be evolved to such an extent that they can infect devices running on a similar platform.