Hacker Zombie Computer Reflectors Target

Sniffer Receiver Sender Network Interface bottleneck

Rootkits The job of the rootkits is to give cover to the hackers. The best or the worst part about rootkits is that they are able to hide themselves from the antivirus software as well, due to which the user is not aware that a rootkit is present on the system. This helps the hacker and he is able to spread malware on the system. Therefore, it is important that one opts for antivirus, which also has a rootkit scanner, which will be able to detect the invasion.

Adware They are actually advertising supported software. It is not uncommon to see different advertisements or pop ups coming up on the computer, when certain applications are being used. They may not pose a lot of threat, but often lower the speed of the computers. There are chances that the computer system may become unstable because of these adware.

Phishing Often people appear to get s from trustworthy organizations, like banks. In some cases, the s may come from bogus sites, which may resemble the original site or it may superimposes a bogus pop up, due to which confidential data is gathered. They are often a part of different scamming activities and often poses to the financial threats.

Software used to prevent, detect and remove malware (of all descriptions), such as: computer viruses, adware, backdoors, malicious BHOs, dialers, fraudtools, hijackers, keyloggers, malicious LSPs, rootkits, spyware, trojan horses and worms. No matter how useful antivirus software can be, it can sometimes have drawbacks.

Inexperienced users may also have trouble understanding the prompts and decisions that antivirus software presents them with. An incorrect decision may lead to a security breach.

IDENTIFICATION METHODS Signature based detection is the most common method. To identify viruses and other malware, antivirus software compares the contents of a file to a dictionary of virus signatures. Heuristic-based detection like malicious activity detection, can be used to identify unknown viruses. File emulation is another heuristic approach. File emulation involves executing a program in a virtual environment and logging what actions the program performs.

Rootkit detection Anti-virus software can attempt to scan for rootkits; a rootkit is a type of malware that is designed to gain administrative-level control over a computer system without being detected Rootkits are also difficult to remove, in some cases requiring a complete re-installation of the operating system.

Real-time protection Refer to the automatic protection provided by most antivirus, anti-spyware, and other anti-malware programs. This monitors computer systems for suspicious activity such as computer viruses, spyware, adware, and other malicious objects in “real-time”, in other words while data loaded into the computer's active memory: when inserting a CD, opening an , or browsing the web, or when a file already on the computer is opened or executed.

Problems caused by False Positives A "false positive" is when antivirus software identifies a non-malicious file as a virus. When this happens, it can cause serious problems. Example: If an antivirus program is configured to immediately delete or quarantine infected files, a false positive in an essential file can render the operating system or some applications unusable.

Other Methods... Installed antivirus software running on an individual computer is only one method of guarding against viruses. Other methods are also used, including cloud-based antivirus, firewalls and on-line scanners.

Cloud antivirus Cloud antivirus is a technology that uses lightweight agent software on the protected computer, while offloading the majority of data analysis to the provider's infrastructure.

Network firewall Network firewalls prevent unknown programs and processes from accessing the system. However, they are not antivirus systems and make no attempt to identify or remove anything. They may protect against infection from outside the protected computer or network, and limit the activity of any malicious software which is present by blocking incoming or outgoing requests on certain TCP/IP ports.

Online Scanning Some antivirus vendors maintain websites with free online scanning capability of the entire computer, critical areas only, local disks, folders or files. Periodic online scanning is a good idea for those that run antivirus applications on their computers because those applications are frequently slow to catch threats.

A firewall can either be software- based or hardware-based and is used to help keep a network secure. Its primary objective is to control the incoming and outgoing network traffic.

POCKET FILTER (First Generation) Packet filters act by inspecting the "packets" which transfer between computers on the Internet. If a packet matches the packet filter's set of rules, the packet filter will drop (silently discard) the packet, or reject it. STATEFUL FIREWALL (Second Generation) The firewall is programmed to distinguish legitimate packets for different types of connections. Only packets matching a known active connection will be allowed by the firewall; others will be rejected.

APPLICATION LAYER FILTER (Third Generation) The key benefit of application layer filtering is that it can "understand" certain applications and protocols. This is useful as it is able to detect if an unwanted protocol is attempting to bypass the firewall on an allowed port, or detect if a protocol is being abused in any harmful way.

Hardware Firewalls Hardware firewalls can be purchased as a stand-alone product but more recently hardware firewalls are typically found in broadband routers, and should be considered an important part of your system and network set- up, especially for anyone on a broadband connection. Hardware firewalls can be effective with little or no configuration, and they can protect every machine on a local network.

Software Firewalls For individual home users, the most popular firewall choice is a software firewall. Software firewalls are installed on your computer (like any software) and you can customize it; allowing you some control over its function and protection features. A software firewall will protect your computer from outside attempts to control or gain access your computer, and, depending on your choice of software firewall, it could also provide protection against the most common Trojan programs or worms.