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A threat considered high risk by antivirus vendors McAfee and Trend has confusingly been given three different names: http://antivirus.about.com/library/blprolin.htm. Antivirus vendors have been tasked with standardizing virus naming since an ICSA sponsored meeting in November of 1991. Nearly a decade later, the Creative, aka ProLin/Shockwave worm/Trojan points out the deficiencies in the adoption of this system. As users become more aware of virus issues and seek out information on newly released viruses, their efforts are frustrated by the lack of adherence to any real naming convention. |
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In The Night of the Living Dead, zombies sucked brain matter in a frenzied hunger. In the computer world, a Trojan can be used to turn your PC into its own computing matter - turning it into a zombie machine. Once under the control of such an illicit program, the Trojan can be accessed by attackers intent on any number of ominous deeds. |
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Whether you need help understanding Windows or want to know what the difference is between a virus and a Trojan - and why it matters - these free online courses can help. |
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Antivirus vendors generally assign virus names consisting of a prefix, the name, and a suffix. Not all vendors follow this convention, however, and even those who do may sometimes use different designators. When attempting to find information about a particular virus, it can be helpful to understand how the names are formed. |
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Often accused of being drive-by downloads, these pesky Internet parasites can quickly take advantage of an improperly secured system, embedding themselves as a "browser help object" and redirecting you to a host of unsavory sites. |
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ActiveX controls are the modern rendition of OLE, or .OCX files. A simplistic example of OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) allows a user to embed the calculator into a word processor. ActiveX controls rely on the Windows operating system, requiring developers to create version specific controls. Unlike Sun's Java, ActiveX is able to interact with the operating system. This has led to security vulnerabilities in some instances, with the KAK worm perhaps being the most notorious. |
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Definition: Antivirus refers to the products and technology used to detect malicious code, prevent it from infecting your system, and remove malicious code that has infected the system. Typically, antivirus vendors share information and resources to ensure rapid response to malicious code outbreaks. Most antivirus vendors participate in independent testing which certifies their products to detect and/or disinfect viruses. Also Known As: Virus scanners, scanner Alternate Spellings: anti-virus, anti virus |
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Definition: Attachments are files added to an outgoing email. In Microsoft email clients, email carrying an attachment will have a paper-clip type icon beside the description. Also in Microsoft email clients, an icon representing the file type will be embedded at the end of the body of the email message. Attachments have become a known harbinger of virus infection. Virus authors and distributors often give the file a double extension. Users who do not have proper viewing settings configured in Internet Explorer can be tricked into believing an executable file is a benign bitmap, or graphic, file. To prevent this, ensure file extension viewing is enabled on the system. Also Known As: email attachment, attached file |
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Definition: File viruses infect executable files by inserting their code into some part of the original file so that it can be executed when the file is accessed or they may overwrite the file entirely. File infecting viruses have targeted a range of operating system, including Macintosh, UNIX, DOS, and Windows. Overwriting viruses cause irreversable damage to the files. Loveletter, which operated as an email worm, file virus, and Trojan downloader, is a notorious example of a file overwriting virus. Loveletter searched for certain file types and overwrote them with its own malicious code, permanently destroying the contents of those files. Files affected by an overwriting virus cannot be disinfected and instead must be deleted and restored from backup.
Also Known As: File infectors, virus
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Definition: In contrast to viruses, computer worms are malicious programs that copy themselves from system to system, rather than infiltrating legitimate files. For example, a mass-mailing email worm is a worm that sends copies of itself via email. A network worm makes copies of itself throughout a network, an Internet worm sends copies of itself via vulnerable computers on the Internet, and so on.
Also Known As: Email worm, Internet worm, network worm
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