Cyberattacks are numerous and varied, making individuals and organizations vulnerable if they lack proper awareness and education. This edition of Digital Dive focuses on malware, a type of malicious software that can infiltrate your computer without your consent. Once installed, malware can compromise your system in several ways, including stealing personal information, corrupting files, or even granting an attacker complete control. The following section will explore different categories and examples of malware:
- Ransomware: This is a type of malware that encrypts a victim's files or systems, rendering them inaccessible and unusable until a ransom payment is made. It is further sub-categorized into #Lockerransomware and #Crypto-ransomware. The #Lockerransomware locks the victim out of their system, making it impossible to access their files or applications demanding a ransom to enable the victim regain access to their system and #Crypto-ransomware encrypts a victim's files, while the hacker demands ransom in exchange for the #decryption key.
- Virus: This type of malware replicates itself rapidly and spreads to other computers, often causing damage or disrupting operations.
- Worm: Quite similar to a virus however, it spreads automatically without human interaction, often exploiting network vulnerabilities.
- Spyware: Just as the name suggests, it secretly monitors user activity and steals sensitive information like passwords, credit card details, and browsing history.
- Trojan Horse: Disguises itself as a legitimate program but performs malicious actions in the background. It capitalizes on tricking victims into installing it for malicious intent to be executed.
- Adware: Displays unwanted advertisements, often bundled with other software; while not always directly harmful, it can be annoying and slow down systems.
For #tips on #dataprotection, refer to the previous edition of TDD. Kindly subscribe to the newsletter for more information such as this. See you in the next edition.
