Malicious Software Flashcards
What is a trojan?
Malicious software that seems to perform a desirable function for the user but instead facilitates an authorized access to the user’s computer system. The term is derived from the Trojan Horse story in Greek mythology.
What is a worm?
A self-replicating computer program it sends copies of itself to other computers and may do so without any user intervention. Unlike a virus, it doesn’t need to attach itself to an existing file worms almost always cause at least some harm to the network.
What is a virus?
A malicious computer program that infects a file. A true virus can only spread from one computer to another when it’s host is sent to the target computer. The word virus is incorrectly used as an umbrella term for many flavors of viruses, worms, and Trojans Etc.
What is an antivirus?
Software that monitors a computer or network to identify all major types of malware and prevent or contain malware incidents. Sometimes referred to as AV, which is short for antivirus.
What is malware?
Short for the term malicious software. It’s an umbrella term used to refer the various types of viruses, worms, and Trojans Etc. Most malware is installed without the infected person ever realizing it.
What is ransomware?
Vicious malware that locks users out of their devices or blocks access to files until a sum of money or Ransom is paid. Attacks cause downtime, data loss, possible intellectual property theft, and data breaches. Ransomware is also referred to as crypto wear.
What is a rootkit?
Malicious code that loads into the early loading stages of a computer. The code hides itself from the operating system and other applications that load in the later stages, like antivirus and system utilities. This gives the bad guy fall access to alter the system.
What is botnet?
Short for “robot Network,” it’s a collection of software robots, or Bots, that live on infected computers and are controlled by bad guys. Botnets do many bad things like spew out spam attack other computers or send back confidential data to the botnet controller.
