Malwares

1) definition  :
Malware or “Malicious Software” is a term used to refer
to any type of harmful code or software, with an
intention to make harm, steal data, or even disturb users’
operations by deteriorating the device’s performance or
even compromising and taking control over the targeted
device.
The term Malware by itself does not categorize the type
of malicious code used to infect and compromise the
devices, rather it’s used as a general word to flag the
software or the application carrying the malicious code.
The term Malware, interchange frequently with the term
Virus, which is one type of a long list of malicious software.

2) Types of malware:
There are a number of different ways of categorizing malware; the first is by how the malicious
software spreads. You've probably heard the words virus, trojan, and worm used interchangeably,
but as Symantec explains, they describe three subtly different ways malware can infect target
computers:
 A worm is a standalone piece of malicious software that reproduces itself and spreads from
computer to computer.
 A virus is a piece of computer code that inserts itself within the code of another standalone program,
then forces that program to take malicious action and spread itself.
 A trojan is a program that cannot reproduce itself but masquerades as something the user wants and
tricks them into activating it so it can do its damage and spread.
Malware can also be installed on a computer "manually" by the attackers themselves, either by gaining
physical access to the computer or using privilege escalation to gain remote administrator access. 
Another way to categorize malware is by what it does once it has successfully infected its victim's
computers. There are a wide range of potential attack techniques used by malware:
 Spyware is defined by Webroot Cybersecurity as "malware used for the purpose of secretly
gathering data on an unsuspecting user." In essence, it spies on your behavior as you use your
computer, and on the data you send and receive, usually with the purpose of sending that information
to a third party. A keylogger is a specific kind of spyware that records all the keystrokes a user
makes—great for stealing passwords.
 A rootkit is, as described by TechTarget, "a program or, more often, a collection of software tools
that gives a threat actor remote access to and control over a computer or other system." It gets its
name because it's a kit of tools that (generally illicitly) gain root access (administrator-level control,
in Unix terms) over the target system, and use that power to hide their presence.
  Adware is malware that forces your browser to redirect to web advertisements, which often
themselves seek to download further, even more malicious software. As The New York Times  notes,
adware often piggybacks onto tempting "free" programs like games or browser extensions.
 Ransomware is a flavor of malware that encrypts your hard drive's files and demands a payment,
usually in Bitcoin, in exchange for the decryption key. Several high-profile malware outbreaks of the
last few years, such as Petya, are ransomware. Without the decryption key, it's mathematically
impossible for victims to regain access to their files. So-called scareware is a sort of shadow version
of ransomware; it claims to have taken control of your computer and demands a ransom, but actually
is just using tricks like browser redirect loops to make it seem as if it's done more damage than it
really has, and unlike ransomware can be relatively easily disabled.
 Cryptojacking is another way attackers can force you to supply them with Bitcoin—only it works
without you necessarily knowing. The crypto mining malware infects your computer and uses your
CPU cycles to mine Bitcoin for your attacker's profit. The mining software may run in the
background on your operating system or even as JavaScript in a browser window.
 Malvertising is the use of legitimate ads or ad networks to covertly deliver malware to unsuspecting
users’ computers. For example, a cybercriminal might pay to place an ad on a legitimate website.
When a user clicks on the ad, code in the ad either redirects them to a malicious website or installs
malware on their computer. In some cases, the malware embedded in an ad might execute
automatically without any action from the user, a technique referred to as a “drive-by download.”

3) Malware protection:
Antivirus software is the most widely known product in the category of malware protection products;
despite "virus" being in the name, most offerings take on all forms of malware. While high-end security pros
dismiss it as obsolete, it's still the backbone of basic anti-malware defense. Today's best antivirus software is
from vendors Kaspersky Lab, Symantec and Trend Micro, according to recent tests by AV-TEST.
When it comes to more advanced corporate networks, endpoint security offerings provide defense in depth
against malware. They provide not only the signature-based malware detection that you expect from
antivirus, but anti-spyware, personal firewall, application control and other styles of host intrusion
prevention. Gartner offers a list of its top picks in this space, which include products from Cylance,
CrowdStrike, and Carbon Black.

4) Malware examples:
We've already discussed some of the current malware threats looming large today. But there is a long,
storied history of malware, dating back to infected floppy disks swapped by Apple II hobbyists in the 1980s
and the Morris Worm spreading across Unix machines in 1988. Some of the other high-profile malware
attacks have included:
 ILOVEYOU, a worm that spread like wildfire in 2000 and did more than $15 billion in damage
 SQL Slammer, which ground internet traffic to a halt within minutes of its first rapid spread in 2003
 Conficker, a worm that exploited unpatched flaws in Windows and leveraged a variety of attack
vectors – from injecting malicious code to phishing emails – to ultimately crack passwords and
hijack Windows devices into a botnet.
 Zeus, a late '00s keylogger Trojan that targeted banking information
 CryptoLocker, the first widespread ransomware attack, whose code keeps getting repurposed in
similar malware projects
  Stuxnet, an extremely sophisticated worm that infected computers worldwide but only did real
damage in one place: the Iranian nuclear facility at Natanz, where it destroyed uranium-enriching
centrifuges, the mission it was built for by U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies

5) Hacking definition: What is hacking?

Hacking refers to activities that seek to compromise digital devices, such as computers, smartphones, tablets,
and even entire networks. And while hacking might not always be for malicious purposes, nowadays most
references to hacking, and hackers, characterize it/them as unlawful activity by cybercriminals—motivated
by financial gain, protest, information gathering (spying), and even just for the “fun” of the challenge.

6) Hacking tools: How do hackers hack?

Hacking is typically technical in nature (like creating malvertising that deposits malware in a drive-by attack
requiring no user interaction). But hackers can also use psychology to trick the user into clicking on a
malicious attachment or providing personal data. These tactics are referred to as “social engineering.”
In fact, it's accurate to characterize hacking as an over-arching umbrella term for activity behind most if not
all of the malware and malicious cyberattacks on the computing public, businesses, and governments.
Besides social engineering and malvertising, common hacking techniques include:
 Botnets
 Browser hijacks
 Denial of service (DDoS) attacks
 Ransomware
 Rootkits
 Trojans
 Viruses
 Worms