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Protecting your On-Line Privacy and PC

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Viruses, Worms, Trojan Viruses, Worms, Trojan Horses, Spam, and HoaxesHorses, Spam, and Hoaxes

Of the billions of e-mail messages per year, an increasing proportion of which is unpleasant.

An e-mail security firm scanned 413 million e-mails in August 2003. Three percent contained a virus, 52 percent were spam, and in many cases contained some kind of pornographic image.

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VirusesViruses Designed to replicate themselves and

potentially cause harmful actions. Often hidden inside innocuous programs. Viruses in e-mails often masquerade as

games or pictures and use beguiling subject lines (e.g., "My girlfriend nude") to encourage users to open and run them.

Try to replicate themselves by infecting other programs on your computer.

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WormsWorms Like viruses, worms attempt to

replicate themselves, but they are programmed to use one’s mail list and send out e-mails rather than simply infecting programs on a single computer.

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Trojan HorsesTrojan Horses Malicious programs that pose as

benign applications (do not replicate like viruses and worms).

Trojan horses are used to smuggle viruses and worms inside your computer.

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SpamSpam Spam, or unsolicited commercial e-

mail, wastes bandwidth and time. The sheer volume of it can be overwhelming, and it can be a vehicle for viruses. Much of it is of an explicit sexual nature, which can create an oppressive working environment and, potentially, legal liabilities if companies do not take steps to stop it.

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Hoax e-mailsHoax e-mails Hoax e-mails, such as fake virus

warnings, chain letters, or implausible free offers, waste readers' time. Hoax e-mails often contain viruses or Trojan horses.

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Common Security Common Security Threats Against Threats Against NetworksNetworks

Attackers have different motivations—profit, mischievousness, glory—but they all work in similar ways.

The Basic Threats (infinite variation): Spoofing Tampering Repudiation Information disclosure Denial of Service Elevation of privilege

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SpoofingSpoofing IP spoofing means creating

packets that look as though they have come from a different IP address.

E-mail spoofing means forging an e-mail so that the From address does not indicate the true address of the sender.

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TamperingTampering Altering the contents of packets

as they travel over the Internet or altering data on computer disks after a network has been penetrated.

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RepudiationRepudiation The ability of a user to falsely deny

having performed an action that other parties cannot prove otherwise.

For example, a user that deleted a file can successfully deny doing so if no mechanism (such as audit records) can prove otherwise.

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Information DisclosureInformation Disclosure Information disclosure consists of

the exposure of information to individuals who normally would not have access to it.

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Denial of Service (DoS)Denial of Service (DoS) DoS attacks are computerized

assaults launched by an attacker in an attempt to overload or halt a network service, such as a Web server or a file server.

For example, clogging a server with superfluous requests and thus making it impossible for legitimate inquiries to get through.

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Elevation of PrivilegeElevation of Privilege A process by which a user

misleads a system to grant unauthorized rights, usually for the purpose of compromising or destroying the system.

For example, attacker exploits a weakness in the software that lets her/him change the guest privileges to administrative privileges.

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SpywareSpyware Spyware is the latest threat

to computers and its users. It joins a host of parasites, such as, viruses, worms, spam, plus e-mail, and network attacks.

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Spyware Spyware Spyware is a self installing

software that presents varying degrees of maliciousness that range from a program running on your computer in the background (without your knowledge) to a simple tracking cookie.

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Spyware ActivitiesSpyware Activities Monitors Web-browsing

patterns Triggers related pop-up ads Resets Home Page or Search

Engines Adds links to Bookmarks Attempts to capture personal

information

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AdwareAdware Adware is another form of

spyware that monitors users’ Web-browsing patterns and displays related pop-up and pop-under ad windows based on this information.

Adware may also send the gathered information back to its creator.

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Spyware Scanning Tools

Computer Associates’ eTrust PestPatrol

FBM Software ZeroSpyware and ZeroAds

LavaSoft Ad-Aware McAfee Anti-Spyware Trend Micro’s InterScan Web

Security Suite

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Eliminating Adware & Spyware

Find Remove and, Keep out

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Finding Spyware

Step 1: Scanning for spyware Requires antispyware tools Consider several categories

of spyware scanning tools (do not run the tools concurrently)

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Step 2: Eliminating Spyware Since Spyware programs are

constantly modified (DLL and registry settings) use a variety of tools and in hard cases manual removal may also be necessary.

Reformatting the HD and reinstalling the OS may be less work than manually looking for Spyware.

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Step 3: Install Spyware-blocking Software Install at least two

Spyware-blocking applications and run them one at a time.

Enlist users in the fight against Spyware

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ReferencesReferences CDW-G Higher Education March

2005 An Introduction to Criminal Hacking,

Viruses, and Malicious Activities. Retrieved March 28th, 2005. http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/gtm/securityguidance/articles/an_introduction_to_criminal_hacking_viruses_and_malicious_activities.mspx