Winson Digital Techniques

What is a computer worm?  Several things may come to mind when you think of the word “worm." You may think of delicious soft chewie candies that are sugary and maybe a little sour. Or you may think of the cold-blooded invertebrate animals that wiggle across the Earth’s surface. And if you’re thinking in computing terms, the malware may spring to mind.  Similar to real worms, you can say that computer worms don’t have much of a backbone because they often rely on trickery to infect their hosts. They may also seem a bit coldblooded because they can be remorselessly destructive. Let’s learn more about them. Worm definition A computer worm is a subset of the Trojan horse malware that can propagate or self-replicate from one computer to another without human activation after breaching a system. Typically, a worm spreads across a network through your Internet or LAN (Local Area Network) connection. Naturally, you must be wondering what is a trojan and how does it relate to...

What is MyDoom? While many people call it a virus, technically MyDoom is a worm , as it can operate and spread independently from the host. MyDoom (also known as Nova, W32.MyDoom@mm, Shimgapi, and Email. R) spreads through malicious email attachments. After the victim clicks on the attachment, the worm gets inside the operating system and sends emails to all the victim’s contacts. When people see a familiar name, they are more likely to open a suspicious file. At the time of discovery in 2004, you could also get MyDoom by using the file-sharing platform Kazaa, which is no longer operating.MyDoom adds infected computers to a botnet and then carries out distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. When the worm takes control over the victim’s OS, it then opens various ports and provides a backdoor to invite even more malware in. Technical details MyDoom arrives with one of the following subject lines: test, hi, hello, mail delivery system, mail transaction failed, server report, status,...

What is the ILOVEYOU virus? The ILOVEYOU virus comes in an email with "ILOVEYOU" in the subject line and contains an attachment that, when opened, results in the message being re-sent to everyone in the recipient's Microsoft Outlook address book. Perhaps more seriously, it results in the loss of every JPEG, MP3, and certain other files on all recipients' hard disks.  Since Microsoft Outlook   is widely installed as the default email management application in corporate networks worldwide, the ILOVEYOU virus can spread rapidly within a corporation. In fact, this is exactly what happened on May 4, 2000. In just about 10 days, ILOVEYOU reached an estimated 45 million users and caused about  $10 Billion   in damages. It spread so quickly that many major enterprises like the Ford Motor Company, AT&T, and Microsoft, as well as government organizations like the Pentagon, CIA, U.S. Army, and parliaments in Denmark and the U.K., had to completely shut down their email serv...

Cryptolocker Virus Definition Cryptolocker is a malware threat that gained notoriety over the last few years. It is a Trojan horse that infects your computer and then searches for files to encrypt. This includes anything on your hard drives and all connected media — for example, USB memory sticks or any shared network drives. In addition, the malware seeks out files and folders you store in the cloud. Only computers running a version of Windows are susceptible to Cryptolocker; the Trojan does not target Macs. Once your desktop or laptop is infected, files are "locked" using what's known as asymmetric encryption. This method relies on two "keys," one public and one private. Hackers encrypt your data using the public key, but it can only be decrypted using the unique private key they hold. The Cryptolocker virus will display warning screens indicating that your data will be destroyed if you do not pay a ransom to obtain the private key. Common Infection Methods an...

Trojan Horse Virus is  a type of malware that downloads onto a computer disguised as a legitimate program . The delivery method typically sees an attacker use social engineering to hide malicious code within legitimate software to try and gain users' system access with their software. What Is a Trojan Virus Trojans are deceptive programs that appear to perform one function, but in fact perform another, malicious function. They might be disguised as free software, videos or music, or seemingly legitimate advertisements.  The term “trojan  virus ” is not technically accurate; according to most definitions, Trojans are not viruses. A virus is a program that spreads by attaching itself to other software, while a trojan spreads by pretending to be useful software or content. Many experts consider  spyware programs , which track user activity and send logs or data back to the attacker, as a type of trojan.  Trojans can act as standalone tools for attackers o...