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Malware and Trojan Horses

Malware (malicious software), is software designed to permeate a computer without the owner's knowledge. It is hostile, intrusive, or annoying software. Over 3 million have been identified.

Over 70% of new Malware strains are Trojans Horses. This is a harmful piece of software that looks legitimate. Users are tricked into loading and executing it on their systems. It can steal data, spread viruses, and create back doors to give malicious users access to the system.

The Internet today is essential for our daily life. It has taken a very short time to go from a curiosity to a pervasive and indispensible technology. As the Internet technology has matured, so have the techniques used by sophisticated cyber criminals. The hackers continue to amend and evolve their Malware.

The initial malware attacks were malicious in intent – destroying files and disrupting the computer. They were obvious to spot. Nowadays the attacks are much more subtle. The aim is to extract money from unwary victims, by fraud or identity theft. They fool people into revealing personal information, such as bank account or credit card numbers.

Where the law is lax, criminals organisations abound. They originate in places such as Russia, Eastern Europe, Nigeria, China and other parts of Asia. An identity is stolen every three seconds. One person in five is likely to fall victim to these scams. The scams cost businesses, banks and individuals $US1 trillion a year.

And the threat of Malware is ever increasing.

Some Examples

• The Conficker worm, after barely one year, is said to have infected more than 10 million computers.
• The criminals have targeted social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and MySpace – to steal identities and scam their contacts into parting with money.
• A hacker gained access to the Twitter accounts of celebrities such as US President Barack Obama, Britney Spears and Lily Allen.
• The Clampi Trojan Horse extracts information from business websites and cost victims millions of dollars.
• Zip files, as well as the 7zip, rar, cab and gzip file formats, can be used to slip malware onto computers and evade antivirus detection.

How to get infected

Malware can be embedded in websites providing entertainment, free software or pornographic downloads. Any computer visiting these sites becomes infected. The Malware is also installed when cyber criminals offer a free computer check or a download of free software. Even Facebook is not safe. The criminals created accounts and used Scareware to trick people into paying for unnecessary anti-virus software.

The Malware captures log-in and Password details and sends them to the cyber criminals. With the victim's bank or credit card details, money can be transferred, or stolen credit card details used to buy goods. With stolen personal details, identity theft can occur.

Prevention of Infection

It is imperative to install reputable anti-virus software that constantly updates itself. Don't quibble about the price – an infection will cost you many times more.

• Do not reveal your date of birth.
• Do not use simple Passwords.
• Do not respond to an email from an unknown source.
• Do not download a file from a website that offers a free entry in a draw.
• Do not download free anti-virus software.
• Be extremely careful when revealing personal information on a social network site.
• Make sure that you have installed the latest Windows Updates.
• Use the latest versions of all software – Internet Explorer, WinZip, Adobe Reader, etc.

The Malware may be difficult to remove and may block attempts by users to download removal software. Anti-virus software will generally prevent an infection, but cannot always remove the worm from an unprotected machine.

Password Protection

Simple Passwords no longer provide any protection. An attack can determine a password by searching from a list of words in a dictionary. The success rate is high, as many people choose passwords which are found in dictionaries or a word with a digit appended.

Here are some tips on creating strong Passwords:

• Use upper and lower case characters
• Include a number
• Include special characters like #,$,%, etc
• Change the Password frequently
• Do not use sequences like 12345 …
• Do not use a word that appears in a dictionary
• Use at least 8 characters
• Do not use the same Password for different accounts
• Use Microsoft's Password strength checker

The advice above is good, but few (read 'no one') will heed the advice. To make life easier, try software like lastpass. It is a free online password manager.

For an excellent article on Malware from Microsoft, see Malware: Help prevent the Infection. Also, to check the authenticity of a Website, see the page Malware Checker.