Cyber Security FAQ Part 3

Q 1)What is a Trojan virus?

A Trojan is effectively a program that pretends to be legitimate software — but, when launched, it will perform a harmful action. Unlike computer viruses and worms, Trojans cannot spread by themselves. Typically, Trojans are installed secretly and they deliver their malicious payload without the user’s knowledge. Cybercriminals use many different types of Trojans — and each has been designed to perform a specific malicious function. The most common are: Backdoor Trojans (these often include a keylogger) Password stealing Trojans Trojan Proxies — that convert your computer into a spam distribution machine

Q 2)What is a Keylogger?

A keylogger is a program that can record what you type on your computer keyboard. Criminals use keyloggers to obtain confidential data — such as login details, passwords, credit card numbers, PINs and other items.

Q 3)What is Phishing?

Phishing is a very specific type of cybercrime that is designed to trick you into disclosing valuable information — such as details about your bank account or credit cards. Often, cybercriminals will create a fake website that looks just like a legitimate site — such as a bank’s official website. The cybercriminal will try to trick you into visiting their fake site — typically by sending you an email that contains a hyperlink to the fake site. When you visit the fake website, it will generally ask you to type in confidential data — such as your login, password or PIN.

Q 4)What is Spyware?

Spyware is software that is designed to collect your data and send it to a third party — without your knowledge or consent. Spyware programs will often: Monitor the keys you press on your keyboard — using a keylogger Collect confidential information — such as your passwords, credit card numbers, PIN numbers and more Gather — or ‘harvest’ — email addresses from your computer Track your Internet browsing habits In addition to the potential damage that can be caused if criminals have access to this type of information, spyware also has a negative effect on your computer’s performance.

Q 5)What is a ‘Drive-by Download’?

In a drive-by download, your computer becomes infected just because you visit a website that happens to contain malicious code. Cybercriminals search the Internet — looking for vulnerable web servers that can be hacked. When a vulnerable server is found, the cybercriminals can inject their malicious code onto the server’s web pages. If your computer’s operating system — or one of the applications running on your computer — has an unpatched vulnerability, a malicious program will be automatically downloaded onto your computer when you visit the infected web page

Q 6)What is a Rootkit?

Rootkits are programs that hackers use in order to evade detection while trying to gain unauthorized access to a computer. Rootkits have been used increasingly as a form of stealth to hide Trojan virus activity. When installed on a computer, rootkits are invisible to the user and also take steps to avoid being detected by security software.

Q 7)What is ADWARE?

Adware programs either launch advertisements — such as pop-up banners — on your computer or they can redirect search results to promotional websites. Sometimes a Trojan virus will secretly download an adware program from a website and install it on your computer. If your web browser doesn’t have the latest updates, it may contain vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers’ tools — or Browser Hijackers — that can download adware onto your computer.

Q 8)What is a Botnet?

A botnet is a network of computers controlled by cybercriminals using a Trojan virus or other malicious program. Hacked computers start working like a bot and used to perform Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks, steal data, send spam, and allows the attacker to access the device and its connection.

Q 9)What is a DDoS attack?

A Distributed-Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack is similar to a DoS. However, a DDoS attack is conducted using multiple machines. Usually, for a DDoS attack, the hacker will use one security compromised computer as the ‘master’ machine that co-ordinates the attack by other ‘zombie machines’. Typically, the cybercriminal will compromise the security on the master and all of the zombie machines, by exploiting a vulnerability in an application on each computer — to install a Trojan or other piece of malicious code.

Q 10)What is a DoS attack?

Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks are designed to hinder or stop the normal functioning of a website, server or other network resource. Hackers can achieve this in several different ways — such as sending a server many more requests than the server is able to cope with. This will make the server run slowly — so that web pages will take much longer to open — and can make the server crash completely, so that all websites on the server are unavailable.

Q 11)How to Choose the Right Antivirus Software?

There are a lot of factors to take into account when you’re trying to select the best antivirus solution for your needs. You need to check which antivirus is compatible for your operating system and the data you want to protect, how you are connecting to other devices and browsing the website.

Q 12)What is the difference between free anti-virus software and paid anti-virus software?

Free anti virus provides basic protection. It helps protect your PC from common viruses, blocks dangerous files and apps and warns you about suspicious websites. In this way, it helps to keep your PC secure. The paid anti-virus gives you end-to-end protection. It is recommended to use paid anti-virus.