A malicious software specially designed to disrupt the system/network is called a Malware. It can easily access the confidential information of both businesses and personal systems. Accordingly, malware can also delete the valuable information of organizations and thus its impacts are high on businesses.
Types of Malware:There are various types of malware that affecting each and every business. Predominantly, in this digital landscape, malware attacks are increasing. Growing internet dependent activities and networking of multiple devices are the significant factors that make systems vulnerable to malware. The key forms of malware are listed below:
- Virus: When a document with Virus is opened and downloaded, it can damage few or entire PC operations. A virus can easily spread through emails or by downloading attachments online.
- Ransomware: It is a new kind of malware that increasingly sounding in various business verticals. Ransomware heavily distrusted banking, e-commerce and banking sectors in 2017. It primarily focusses on hacking the server or hosts machines and demands a fee for releasing hacked information or data. Ransomware is quickly spreading through a malspam or we can also call it “malicious spam emails”. The hacker demand money to the users to unlock their files. In 2016, ransomware infected heavily as malvertising. Malvertising is nothing but malicious online advertising for the distribution of virus/ransomware to the user without the user interaction. When the user browses over the internet, malware affects and forays into the user systems without clicking on that advertisement.
- Ransomware will attack in multiple ways. The significant types of ransomware malware are listed below:
- Scareware: Scareware is a type of ransomware that includes rogue security software as well as technical support scams. The user might receive a pop-up text that malware was discovered and the user has to pay to get rid of it. Files will never be delivered until the user pays as per the hacker demand.
- Screen Lockers: This Lock-screen ransomware malware, the users cannot open their PC until they fulfill the hackers demand. They can’t operate their systems. Each and every file will be blocked by malware. A full-size window appears and it looks like an authorized pop-up that demand money to release screen. In this way, hackers will earn money.
- Encrypted Ransomware The hackers snatch up user files and they’ll encrypt all files. Hackers demand money payment to decrypt and deliver the users files. This kind of ransomware is so dangerous, as once hackers encrypt the user’s documents, no security platforms will work to retrieve files. The user has to pay as hackers demand.
- Phishing: Phishing is a scam to retrieve confidential information like usernames, passwords and debit or credit card details through an e-communication.
- Worms: These are similar to viruses but the major difference is how they spread. Through entering into the user’s email book, worms can easily spread to multiple computers and even foray into several networks within a short span of time.
- Trojans: During the time of downloading files online, trojans might enter into our systems and disrupts the system operations. Trojans can delete potential information in our systems. In addition, they also have capabilities to break security infrastructure.
- The Impact of Growing Banking Trojans: Trojans are heavily impacting mobile banking applications. Day-by-day Mobile banking trojans are evolving at a rapid pace in this digital era. As the majority of people are using mobile banking or net banking through their mobiles, hackers are focusing on stealing the user’s confidential information. These trojans are involved in interrupting the user’s communications to steal confidential information for doing financial fraud. In other words, mobile banking trojans are also described as the advanced version to the mobile phishing and social engineering attacks. Hackers mostly focus on financial institutions. However, implementing cybersecurity services will be the best option to avoid such malware attacks
Malware is a severe threat to any enterprises. As it breaks the security infrastructure of a network/system, malware is posing several security issues to the businesses. Few of the major impacts of malware on enterprises are listed below:
- Interrupts and Disables Services: Malware breaks the network of an organization and can easily disrupt the business operations. In some cases, they can also disable significant services offered by the company. This will lead to huge enterprise losses.
- Personal Information/ Identity Will be Retrieved and Spoofed: Without your interaction, through emails or downloads, malicious software will enter into your system and tries to collect personal information. This is also called identity theft. Malware runs background and records each and every activity done by you. For instance, a malware records browsing history, monitors application you using and also copies personal information like user IDs, passwords, bank account details and etc. Once the malware gets personal information, it will hold the grip on your system operations. It will send spam e-mails on behalf of a person to interrupt other connected devices in the organization. A noteworthy point is that identity theft is a concern to the banking sector as they do a number of business transactions over the internet.
- Completely Breakdowns the Entire Enterprise Network Infrastructure: Irrespective of organization size, a malware involved in interrupting the enterprise network. It completely degrades the network performance and breakdowns its infrastructure. And thus, malware blocks the network and affects the business operations.
- Malware can Control All Applications Executing on Your Device: Once downloaded along with e-mails or internet downloads, malware will control system applications. As they retrieve your personal details, the malware tries to execute risky code in your systems to interrupt device operations completely.
- Access Sensitive Information: Malware can easily access the sensitive information of business by foraying into server machine. It is one of the major impacts of malware to businesses. This will damage the enterprise operations in the market. It is also possible that malware also leads to Hardware failure in some cases. The above-depicted are all few of the major threats happened by Malware.
We in Digintrude provide service on malware assessment, anti-protection on end point resources, policy based scanning and report about client’s business critical recourses. Detail discussion about our malware assessment and threat management services visit us on www.digintrude.com.