People occasionally ask about the different types of viruses and other malware (malicious software) so I thought that it might be helpful to post a brief description of some of the more common types.
Adware- A type of advertising display software and application whose purpose is to deliver advertising content to user un unexpected or unwanted ways.
BOT – Short for robot, its a program that is designed to carry out tasks from its master.
BOTNET- A Botnet is a group of bot infected PC’s that are all controlled by the same “command and control centre”
Hoaxes – Are usually in the form of emails telling you to do something i.e. check to see if you have a virus by looking for a certain file and then delete it (and of course this is normally a system file that is required so you end up damaging your system) or a description like “worst virus ever” and to forward it on to your address book. This just clogs up peoples mail boxes.
Phishing - Is a social engineering attack which attempts to get you to divulge personal information such as passwords, account details etc.
Rootkit - A rootkit is a selection of tools designed to covertly maintain control of a computer.
Spyware - Is a term for software designed to track your computer use without your knowledge or permission and report back. In practice though the term is often used as a generic term for any Malware that is not a specifically a virus.
Trojan - A program that purports to do one thing but actually does something else as well. For instance you might download some free software from the web but as well as that you are installing something else as well, perhaps a rootkit or BOT at the same time.
Virus - A viruses are programs which replicate by copying themselves into other executable code.
Worm – A type of virus, however these can replicate by themselves and do not need host files.
Tags: adware, BOT, malware, phishing, rootkit, spyware, virus