Spyware, Viruses and Malware What the fuss is all about

Malware, or Malicious Code, refer to various types of software that can cause problems, damage, disrupt your computer. Installed without user knowledge or approval What is Malware?

Motivation for Malware Fun/Hobby/Spreading of ideological or political message Experimental/Research/Proof of Concepts Vandalism/Graffiti Revenge Profit/Extortion

Types of Malware Virus – software program – exist on local drive – reproduction using a host (e.g. files, s) – simple self-modification, encryption, polymorphic, metamorphic – Melissa, Chernobyl, I Love You….

Types of Malware Worms – stand alone software application – reproduced by itself – spread by exploiting vulnerabilities in the system – Netsky, SoBig, CodeRed, Sasser….

Types of Malware Trojan – disguised as legitimate software – ActiveX, BHO, shareware, pop-ups advertisement, pirated software – remains hidden – usually do not replicate itself – Adware, Spyware, Backdoor (rootkit, zombies), Dropper, NetBus, SubSeven, GAIN (Kazaa)

Types of Malware Others – Key Logger – Dialer – Browser Hijack – hybrids

How did it get there? Zero day exploits Drive by downloads Vulnerabilities in available services; DCOM, RPC, p2p, lsass, etc Default passwords attachment, opened by user or program p2p downloads, double extensions

How did it get there? User Error User has installed the malware Social Engineering (but it said, “I love you!”) Poor or nonexistent passwords

Countermeasures Antivirus – Scanning and identifying using unique pattern of individual malware (Signature) – searching is done based on definition of known virus byte patterns (virus dictionary) – some uses heuristic/pattern analysis (suspicious behaviour) – scan for virus, worms, spyware and adware – Norton, McAfee, AVG, ZoneAlarm, Avast

Countermeasures Firewall – rule-based (filter based on ports, IP address, application….) – hardware/software – network layer, application layer, application – personal, network based – stateless/stateful – part of Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) – IPFilter, pf, ipfw, Netfilter, Cisco, Dlink, McAfee, Norton, ZoneAlarm, Windows, Avast, Jetico

Countermeasures Education – Educating end-users to: Constantly apply OS patches available Enable and constantly update antivirus Delete s from unknown sender Operate in least privileged mode Enable a personal firewall

Once malware has been identified, it is best to remove it while in safe mode. Some malware has additional processes that strive to stop you from removing it. Deleting startup locations and files while in safe mode, you can usually restore a system to working condition but not necessarily trusted state. Removal Notes

Some notes on Malware Remember that a machine compromised by malware has effectively been ‘hacked’ and that it is usually best to return the machine to a trusted state by removing important data and rebuilding using best practices. Keep in mind the following; Change all Passwords associated with this machine Hardening Patching