{"id":288,"date":"2025-12-03T04:12:55","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T04:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/cyse600dillingham\/?page_id=288"},"modified":"2025-12-05T16:40:35","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T16:40:35","slug":"topic-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/cyse600dillingham\/topic-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Malware Attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Different types of malware attacks and how they\u2019re used was a topic within Module 6 of this course. The main ideas are knowing what types of malware attacks are out there being used and what kinds of attacks are even more likely based on vulnerabilities in applications and devices. From the coursework I gained a thorough understanding of these.

Malware \u2013 Software that is not usually intentionally installed by a user and results in the computer doing unintended things. Some of things malware might do are:
– Kidnap \u2013 by using \u2018ransomware\u2019 the attacker is basically locking up the user\u2019s device and demands payment before they will unlock it or put it back to normal. This could be done by blocking the computer from being used or locking \/ encrypting individual files rendering them useless.

– Eavesdrop \u2013 by using a \u2018keylogger\u2019 or \u2018spyware\u2019 the attacker is seeing what the user is doing. Keyloggers will capture all of the keystrokes the user inputs which is a way they get passwords \/ banking info etc. Spyware is tracking software that could see almost anything the end user is doing.

– Masquerade \u2013 by using something called a \u2018trojan\u2019 the attacker is introducing something to a computer that the user might think is one thing, but it is actually doing something else.

– Launch \u00a0– \u2018viruses\u2019, \u2018worms\u2019, \u2018bloatware\u2019, \u2018bots\u2019 are all examples of things that can harm a system simply by the computer being on. Viruses are usually attached to files within the computer and will replicate onto other files in addition to doing what the attacker wanted. This makes it more challenging to get rid of completely as it could be spread throughout the system. A fileless virus takes advantage of the operation system by being in the computer\u2019s RAM instead of being attached to specific files. \u2018Worms\u2019 are malware that utilize a network to spread to other computers. \u2018Bloatware\u2019 is basically anything that gets installed without a user request so things that are preinstalled or things that get installed by a user not paying attention when installing something they intended to. It\u2019s \u2018bloat\u2019 and things that weren\u2019t needed \/ wanted. A \u2018bot\u2019 is malware that is operating remotely.

– Sidestep \u2013 by using things called \u2018logic bombs\u2019, \u2018rootkits\u2019, or \u2018backdoors\u2019 the malware is hiding and waiting until an event triggers it, at root layers of the operating system making changes, or getting into a system through a way that gets around the normal security procedures in place on a device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While the book \/ PowerPoint talked a lot about what these different types of malware are, I was looking to learn more about just how prevalent it is and what the cost could be especially for businesses in the United States. I found quite a bit of interesting stats on https:\/\/deepstrike.io\/blog\/ransomware-recovery-costs-2025 about how expensive it can be to recover from ransomware attacks and they noted that “an estimated 60% of small businesses go out of business within six months of a major cyberattack”. (Khalil, 2025). This just goes to show how harmful malware can be.
They also included a chart showing just how much breaches cost in 2025 compared to other countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(Khalil, 2025)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also came across many other things I found interesting pertaining to malware. Such as there are over 1 billion malware programs existing currently, and that nearly every other computer in China is infected with some form of malware (Goyal, 2025). There are many other interesting statistics located at https:\/\/www.getastra.com\/blog\/security-audit\/malware-statistics\/ and it has ones for this year as well as other years so you can see how things have changed even just recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of the Simulation assignments that we had to do for the course work during this topic involved downloading Microsoft Safety Scanner. I actually went ahead and did this one outside of the simulation as well by following along in the book for the ‘hands on projects’. It provided me an opportunity to check my own personal computer for anything that could be concerning. I am pleased to say nothing showed up! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Different types of malware attacks and how they\u2019re used was a topic within Module 6 of this course. The main ideas are knowing what types of malware attacks are out there being used and what kinds of attacks are even… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31783,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/cyse600dillingham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/288"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/cyse600dillingham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/cyse600dillingham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/cyse600dillingham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31783"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/cyse600dillingham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/cyse600dillingham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":356,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/cyse600dillingham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/288\/revisions\/356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/cyse600dillingham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}