Malware Threats and Countermeasures

This assignment delves into the evolving landscape of malware threats, examining prevalent types like ransomware, trojans, spyware, and adware. It highlights recent trends in malware attacks and emphasizes the importance of robust security measures at both individual and systemic levels. The document outlines various security tools and best practices for users to mitigate risks, including the use of professional antivirus software, vigilant browsing habits, and strong passwords. Furthermore, it discusses the role of developers in creating secure software and legal frameworks in addressing cybercrime.

Information Security
Recent Trends in Malware
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Table of Contents
Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................................
Discussion.................................................................................................................................................................................
Challenges of Malware Trends.............................................................................................................................................
Problems of Recent Malware Trends...................................................................................................................................
Relevant Technologies to control Malware Trends..............................................................................................................
Applications of Technologies................................................................................................................................................
Clarification of Vague Areas.................................................................................................................................................
Research Questions..............................................................................................................................................................
Issues discussed in Selected Forum......................................................................................................................................
Issues that are not addresses in this Forum.........................................................................................................................
Impact of above discussed Issues on Real Life World...........................................................................................................
Lesson Learnt from Discussion.............................................................................................................................................
Conclusion................................................................................................................................................................................
References................................................................................................................................................................................
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Introduction
Nowadays, in every business organization and at other workplaces IT applications are used to
perform different tasks quickly and appropriately. With the help of these applications
information sharing, communication, storage and management of data have become so easy.
While using these applications, each and every user wants protection and security of data from
vulnerable virus attacks such as malware. This attack is very harmful for computer systems and
networks and can destroy whole server that stores hefty amount of information. These cyber-
attacks happens due to lack of information security both at developers and users end. Therefore,
these security issue should be controlled by experts. The purpose of making this report is to
emphasize on recent trends in malware which is a vulnerable virus and has become a big issue
for IT users. The main concepts that I will cover in this report are challenges, problems, relevant
technologies and its applications, interpretation regarding vague areas of malware and research
questions.
Discussion
As compare to past days, now malware is widespread, sophisticated and ambiguous. Due to this,
security techniques are struggling to control major impacts of malware. Recently, various new
trends are encountered in malware that are listed as below:
1. Increase in violence and dodging of Malware.
2. Target attacks of malware are will give mass exploitation.
3. By using cloud apps, malware is dodging more consumers (Recorded Future, 2017).
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Now further, in this segment of report, I will discuss above mentioned points in detail.
Challenges of Malware Trends
The above discussed potential trends of malware have caused several challenges to IT users. The
main challenge is to maintain long term security and privacy of information. It means, there is
requirement to have more advanced security tools to protect databases over network. Traditional
tools are not so effective to control malware attacks.
Another important challenge is detection of malware in computer systems or network. Very
small virus programming scripts are used by cyber-criminals to spread virus into system that is
too difficult to identify. In this case, without detection it is not possible to clean malware from
system. Moreover, due to lack of users’ awareness, it becomes difficult for them to quickly
understand impacts of malware and delay occur in getting solution. So it is necessary that users
should be aware regarding these types of issues to get quick solution.
Furthermore, improper usage of anti-virus, firewall and other security tools at users’ end is also a
challenging factor to resolve at developers’ end because some users do not understand
importance of using these tools (Tripwire, 2017).
Problems of Recent Malware Trends
The recent trends of malware have set forth many problems for users. The first problem is that
new version of malware is vulnerable enough and by using this hackers can easily attempt an
attack on databases. Besides this, problem of mobile-based users has also increased. As we know
that mobile networks are sensitive as compare to broadband connections. Therefore, the usage
old or new version of malware by attackers can easily hack information. Besides this, banking
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and e-commerce websites are also not saved. However, security experts are doing all potential
efforts to resolve these problems but no appropriate results are found yet.
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Relevant Technologies to control Malware Trends
The issue of malware like ransomware, viruses and spywares etc. is critical and it is mandatory
to control the bad impacts of these vulnerable attacks. This can only be possible by using some
existing relevant technologies. There is no doubt to say that available technologies do not have
so much potential to stop influence of new versions of malware, but to some extent, these
relevant technologies can provide fundamental security. Following are some essential
technologies that can be used to device malware trends (TechRepublic, 2017).
Install Quality Antivirus
The quality antivirus software solution is one of the effective solutions to manage problem of
malware. This product offers bundles of services to its users to prevent our system and network
from virus attacks or spyware infection. But it is necessary that professional and licensed version
of antivirus should be installed into system and that will be paid. Some users download free
antivirus from internet that cannot provide strong security to users. Therefore, quality assurance
of anti-virus software is important.
Use of Real-Time Anti-Spyware Protection
The use of real-time anti-spyware protection is also a useful way to restrict problem of malware.
But it is necessary that spyware should have potential to provide real-time protection from
Trojan, spyware and other vulnerable programs. Some users think that an application of spyware
with combined antivirus utility is protective for them. But this is not the case. A user of free anti-
spyware software have to face some problems of malware infections later that can damage some
important system files.
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Perform Regular Scan
The regular scanning of system is also a helpful tool to identify virus into a system and to fix
that virus. Virus, spyware and malware mostly try to effect boot files or other internal files of
system. Among these files, it is difficult to detect virus easily with naked eyes. Therefore,
scanning tools are essential to use that will scan whole system at once, can rectify and fix viruses
if any found in system. This scanning should be done at regular basis by users to control malware
attacks.
Disability of Autorun
The autorun feature of an operating system also gives opportunity to hackers to access
information from system. If autorun feature is enable in Windows operating system then with the
help of this a virus can automatically attach itself with any drive of system and further connect
itself to external hard drives, networks etc. In this way, virus will be spread. To stop this, autorun
option should be disabled in OS (Hinchliffe, 2017).
These are some technologies that we can use to stop bad influence of malware and its new
versions on our system to some extent.
Applications of Technologies
The scope of above discussed relevant technologies is wide. Not only for virus detection, but
also to protect system and network from unknown entities above discussed relevant technologies
can be used. Most of the IT users prefer these methods to get prevention from virus attacks.
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Clarification of Vague Areas
Malware attacks are very common among internet users. If malware is in our system then it is
mandatory to remove it as soon as possible. Besides this fundamental knowledge about malware,
there are some vague areas of it. Here I would like to emphasize on these vague areas. Most of
the users believe that malware is just a simple virus that resides into our system and can be
removed easily. But this is not a right information about malware. It is vulnerable and can be
more harmful if user will not take care for it. Besides this, it is also necessary to know for mobile
users that malware attack is rising on mobile platforms, so they need to protect their mobile
phones (Information Systems & Technology, 2017).
Research Questions
There are some essential research questions found related to malware and its trends.
Question 1: Why malware exists in our system?
Answer: Malware like ransomware and others are spread into a system to access data from our
system that is confidential for an individual. Once hackers collect data then they ask for money
to owner in case of returning data back to him. That is why malware or other vulnerable virus
attacks are attempted (Bitpipe.com, 017).
Question 2: How malware does get into our computer?
Answer: In most of cases, malware get into our system while downloading something from
internet and keep it into our system without scanning to detect virus. Moreover, it is also possible
that malware can be put into system by an unauthorized user through hacking (Blogs.unb.ca,
2017).
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Issues discussed in Selected Forum
To know about recent trends of malware, I have selected a forum and I got important information
from it about malware and its latest trends. In this forum, some possible issues discussed that will
occur due to new versions of malware. The discussed issues in this forum defines that the new
version of malware has different behavior as compare to its previous versions. Moreover, it is
also defined in forum that if advanced technologies will not be used for security purpose then
mass exploitation can occur by hackers (Securelist.com, 2017). As it is cleared that hackers
always find this kind of opportunity to demolish important information. Cloud applications can
also be affected due to recent trends of malware. Therefore, every user should be careful about
these issues. If I talk about accuracy of this information, then I can say that this information is
right. There is no doubt to say that destruction software like ransomware have already built and
putting very bad impact on large and small business organizations.
Issues that are not addresses in this Forum
In this forum, most of the important things are discussed properly. The discussed issues are
required to be taken seriously both at users’ and developers’ end. But there is one issue that is
not discussed in this forum is that the chances of hardware failure will be increased due to new
trends of malware. Hardware is an important part of computer and as well as network. But if
malware attack will occur then it will put impact on hardware components of system such as CD-
ROM, BIOS, keyboard and mouse settings etc. and system will not work. That is why this issue
cannot be ignored and should be considered important as other discussed issues in report.
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Impact of above discussed Issues on Real Life World
There is high impact of above discussed issues of malware on real life world. The main impacts
are listed as below:
 First of all due to malware attack, security of system will be leaked easily and stored
information into databases can be stolen easily by hackers.
 Banking and e-commerce websites stores personal and other financial information of
users into their online databases. Hackers keep their focus on transactions on these
websites and use ransomware type of malware to access confidential information.
 Once virus will be added into system it will be spread quickly and will systems files that
are difficult to recover. In this case, if backup will not available of these files then there
will be no chance of recovery.
 After collecting users’ personal and financial information, hackers try to sale that
information to their competitors to earn maximum money. It is most common way to leak
information among people by hackers.
These above listed effects give bad results and due to this business organizations can bear heavy
loss.
Lesson Learnt from Discussion
The above whole discussion is effective and informative. From this I got to know that how
malware developers are making strategies to damage security and privacy of databases and
networks. The main reasons of these issues are availability of lack of secure tools, awareness of
people and inappropriate usage of security and privacy tools. The solution of this problem is to
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make strongest security tools that can automatically and quickly detect malware from whole
system and can also fix with its source from where it has come. Developers require to
concentrate on new updates and also aware users them. Moreover, it is also responsibility of
developers to encourage users to only use professional and licensed security tools rather than free
tools that are fake and do not provide security.
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Conclusion
In conclusion, malware and its latest trends are getting active day by day. The appropriate and
quick solution is required. In this report, it is clearly mentioned that how at users’ end security
level can be maintained. Therefore, users must follow those instructions. If an individual user
will not be careful about his or her computer system’s security then service providers and
developers cannot provide full protection. Various security policies and tools are available that
can be used by users for prevention. However, if user gets any problem then legal acts of cyber-
crime can be used. Malware, trojan, spyware and adware etc. should be controlled at their initial
stage, otherwise in future large issue of system damage can occur.
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References
Hinchliffe, A. (2017). Review of Regional Malware Trends in EMEA: Part 1 - Palo Alto
Networks Blog. Palo Alto Networks Blog. Retrieved 14 September 2017, from
https://researchcenter.paloaltonetworks.com/2016/12/unit42-regional-malware-trends-
emea-part-1/
Recorded Future. (2017). 3 Malware Trends You Need to Know About. Retrieved 14 September
2017, from https://www.recordedfuture.com/malware-trends/
TechRepublic.(2017). 10 ways to avoid viruses and spyware. Retrieved 14 September 2017,
from http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10-things/10-ways-to-avoid-viruses-and-
spyware/
Information Systems & Technology. (2017). Viruses, Spyware, and Malware. Retrieved 14
September 2017, from https://ist.mit.edu/security/malware
Tripwire, I. (2017). Malicious Maturation: Three Ongoing Trends in the Evolution of Malware |
The State of Security. The State of Security. Retrieved 14 September 2017, from
https://www.tripwire.com/state-of-security/security-data-protection/cyber-security/
malicious-maturation-three-ongoing-trends-in-the-evolution-of-malware/
Blogs.unb.ca. (2017). Latest Trends in Malware for 2017 – Ransomware continues to rise |
tidBiTS. Retrieved 14 September 2017, from
https://blogs.unb.ca/tidbits/2017/01/18/latest-trend-in-malware-for-2017-ransomware-
continues-to-rise/
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Securelist.com. (2017). Information about Viruses, Hackers and Spam. Retrieved 14 September
2017, from https://securelist.com/threats/damage-caused-by-malware/
Bitpipe.com.(2017). Definition of Malware. Retrieved 14 September 2017, from
http://www.bitpipe.com/tlist/Malware.html
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