Difference – Viruses, worms, Trojans, and bots ?
I was just gearing up to prepare my CCIE Sec v6.1 for Year 2024
Refreshing my knowledge towards security terms and what they are – been long time i was thinking differences between many of them – definition – so found below what i can gather from Intenet. This may be helpfull for the people looking all around in one place.
Viruses, worms, Trojans, and bots are all part of a class of software called “malware.” Malware is short for “malicious software,” also known as malicious code or “malcode.” It is code or software that is specifically designed to damage, disrupt, steal, or in general inflict some other “bad” or illegitimate action on data, hosts, or networks.
Some of the more commonly known types of malware are viruses, worms, Trojans, bots, ransomware, backdoors, spyware, and adware. Damage from malware varies from causing minor irritation (such as browser popup ads), to stealing confidential information or money, destroying data, and compromising and/or entirely disabling systems and networks.
In addition to damaging data and software residing on equipment, malware has evolved to target the physical hardware of those systems. Malware should also not be confused with defective software, which is intended for legitimate purposes but contains errors or “bugs.”
Classes of Malicious Software
Two of the most common types of malware are viruses and worms. These types of programs are able to self-replicate and can spread copies of themselves, which might even be modified copies. To be classified as a virus or worm, malware must have the ability to propagate. The difference is that a worm operates more or less independently of other files, whereas a virus depends on a host program to spread itself. These and other classes of malicious software are described below.
Distribution Channels for Malware
Advanced malware typically comes via the following distribution channels to a computer or network:
- Drive-by download—Unintended download of computer software from the Internet
- Unsolicited email —Unwanted attachments or embedded links in electronic mail
- Physical media—Integrated or removable media such as USB drives
- Self propagation—Ability of malware to move itself from computer to computer or network to network, thus spreading on its own
Happy Labbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbing ….!