Safety Handbook

Malware Safety
 Malware Safety
Chapter One

Viruses
What is a computer virus?
Computer viruses are programs that implant themselves within computer program files and boot sectors
and generate problems. Computer viruses can be very harmful, they block use of your computer or delete data on
drives. Computer viruses were created by people for different objectives and reasons such as, taking control of a
computer to use it for their needs or tasks, to make money, to steal personal information like credit card info or
passwords to accounts or to shut down a computer network. The Love Letter virus was sent in an email from the
Philippines on May 5, 2000. The email claimed to be from a secret admirer, but as soon as one would open the
attachment a virus would spread.

Paths to infection
There are many ways viruses that can enter you system, a virus can occur with the use of disks or CD-
ROMs. It can be spread when a tainted disk is left in the drive and you restart your computer. Another way viruses
infiltrate your system is when you open files found on the Web and message attachments, such as email are infected
and are opened. Once you open these files the virus spreads. A third common way viruses are spread is when you
use a LAN. A virus can be spread this way by using a machine's network connection to look for other machines
connected to that network and use any network vulnerabilities against that machine. If triumphant the virus can
spread to all of the machines connected to that network.

Methods to Cure an Infection

You can do a scan with your antivirus software, this software will scan your computer and clean up the
virus and will detect any other malware threats. You can also put your computer on safe mode and disconnect, scan
and reinstall the hard disk. Also remove viruses manually by downloading a program called Autoruns. This program
gives you the ability too see what programs startup every time your computer boots. Look for suspicious entries and
delete them. Another way to get rid of a virus is using a virus removal device such as the FixMeStick, which is a
USB key with a preinstalled security software.

How to Prevent a Virus From Occurring

There are many precautionary measures you can do to prevent getting a virus, such as installing antivirus
software. Antivirus programs clean and secure your system from destructive viruses and attacks. Running scans on
your computer at least once a week is a must because those scans help detect software problems and cleanup you
computer. Also keeping your antivirus software up-to-date will help minimize the chance of a virus occurring. Make
sure your operating system is up-to-date because security updates are always issued. Always make sure your
network is secure, your networks should always be protected by strong passwords to keep unwanted guests and
viruses out. Do not open attachments or sketchy looking websites without scanning them first to check for viruses.
Keep your personal information safe and make sure to turn on all your privacy settings.
 Malware Safety
Chapter Two

Worms
What Is A Worm?
A worm is a virus that spreads by making copies of itself on computers and spreading them by sending its
duplicates to other computers through the internet. Computer worms take control of the computers they have
infected to spread themselves to other computers. Usually computer worms are used to steal personal information or
to transform the computer into a remote-controlled "bot". Once the computer becomes a remote-controlled "bot"
they are then used by organized crime to attack other computer systems, such as the government. One well known
computer worm would be the Morris Worm, which was released through email at the end of the year 1988. Even
though the worm did not severely damage any computers, it created many duplicates and sent them to many
computers.

Paths to Infection
A common way computer worms spread is through email. In a tainted email the virus is usually hidden in
an attachment or link that is connected to an infected website. There are two ways one could activate a worm, you
can either activate the worm by clicking on the email or opening the attachment or link. Another way a computer
worm infects you computer is through the internet, these worms will scan the internet for liable machines and try to
take control of them by connecting to them. File-sharing network worms spread viruses by duplicating itself into
folders being shared, usually with a local machine. The worm will disguise itself by hiding underneath a harmless
name, once that is done the worm will infect and spread viruses to your computer and those connected to the same
network.

Methods to Cure Infection

The most effective way to remove computer worms is by using an antivirus software. Scanning your entire
computer with this software will cleanup and destroy almost all infections on your device.

How to Prevent a Worm From Occurring

To avoid getting computer worms you should make sure you always have a strong firewall running. Make
sure to hide your computer from networks by adjusting the settings on your firewall. Remember to never open
emails without scanning them with an antivirus program. Make sure your antivirus software is always up-to-date
and scan your computer regularly.

Malware Safety
Chapter Three
 Trojan Horse
What Is A Trojan Horse?
A Trojan Horse is a type of malware that pretends to be real software, once triggered the malware has the
ability to delete, modify, block, copy data, disrupt your computer network, computer performance or whatever the
attacker has programmed it to do. Trojan Horses are usually created by people who want to steal another person's
personal information. An example of the Trojan Horse would be the Zeus Trojan which was added to a bank website
hidden as extra security questions so the hacker could retain that users' personal information to hack their account.

Paths To infection
There are many different ways a Trojan Horse can infect your computer usually they do so by tricking users
into opening them and downloading the malware. A common way Trojan Horses infect your computer is when
hackers spam you with emails making the emails look innocent but are actually malware, the users are tricked into
downloading the malware and then their systems get infected. For some Trojan Horses all a person needs to do is
view an infected page and the malware will automatically install without the user knowing.

Methods to Cure Infection

To remove Trojan Horse you should run a scan on your computer using an antivirus program and once the
Trojan is found you can delete it by deleting all the infected files. You can also put your computer into safe mode
and check for unwanted or unfamiliar programs and deleting them. These are all ways you can remove a Trojan
Horse from your computer.

How to Prevent a Trojan Horse From Occurring

To prevent your system from getting infected by a Trojan Horse you should have an antivirus software
running at all times and keeping it up-to-date so your security is at its best. Also filter your emails, delete spam and
run scans on them before opening any emails you have received. Use a firewall on your computer at all times to
secure it. Never open or click on attachments or links sent to you without making sure they are safe by scanning
them.

Malware Safety
Chapter Four

Adware
What Is Adware?
Adware is software that displays unwanted ads when a users is using the internet, adware collects the users
information without he or she knowing. Adware opens up pages that are malicious with or without the users'
permission.

Paths to Infection
 There are two types of adware, there are the ones that are used as actual advertisements to help fund a
company or a website and then there are the malwares that are installed without consent when a user opens up an
infected website, this type of adware is usually malicious. In most situations malicious adware is typically
downloaded from the internet when a page pops up and you click on it thinking that you have closed it.

Methods to Cure Infection

To get rid of malicious adware downloaded onto your computer make sure to run scans with an antivirus
program. To remove adware that pops up make sure you do not click on anything and that you have closed it down
properly. After you should run a scan on your computer to be safe.

How to Prevent Adware From Occurring

To prevent adware from occurring make sure you read licensing agreements before downloading software
and programs and to be careful with what you choose to download. If you do download items make sure to scan
them beforehand to be safe. Also be aware of clicking advertisements and to watch out for any product scams.

Malware Safety
Chapter Five

Spyware
What Is Spyware?
Spyware is software that does things without your permission such as advertising, collecting personal
information or changing your computer. Spyware can change your computer by adding unwanted things to your
browser, slowing it down or making it crash.

Paths to Infection
Spyware is usually installed when a user downloads a file or program off of the internet and the spyware
attaches itself to it, the spyware in a way piggybacks the users' download. Another way spyware spreads is when it
tricks you into downloading it, for example a window might pop up and say you "must" download the software in
order to complete a task. In some situations spyware is downloaded when you think you are downloading a program
that will protect your computer from malware but does the complete opposite of that, because instead of protecting
your computer from malware it is the malware itself. Changing your security settings or features may have turned
off alerts that allow you to see files and programs that are downloading, allowing spyware to be downloaded
unknowingly. When you change or adjust your security you may allow holes that allows spyware to download
undetected.

Methods to Cure Infection

To remove spyware you should run a scan on your computer using an antivirus program. Once the spyware
is detected by the antivirus it will delete it.

How to Prevent Spyware From Occurring

 To prevent spyware from downloading onto your computer make sure you close pop up add correctly and
run scans on your computer using antivirus software.

Bibliography
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6 Mar. 2017.
My evaluation of this website is that it contained a good amount of substance, I did not find any
grammatical errors, there was more information than visuals and the article was written in detail. I could find
information about the author and it said when the article was published. Overall I think this website was a reliable
source.

Tenny, Jessica. Email Viruses: How to Avoid Them and How to Get Rid of Them.
TopTenReviews. N.p., 16 Mar. 2011. Web. 6 Mar. 2017.
The article "Email Viruses: How to Avoid Them and How to get Rid of Them" provides a good amount of
information and substance, goes into detail about the topics, provides examples on how viruses enter your system,
when the article was published is at the top written clearly, the author has provided contact information, there are
links and I see no grammatical errors. In my opinion I think this website is reliable and contains true information.

Benton, Brian. 10 Tips on How to Prevent Malware From Infecting Your Computerand Your
Livelihood. AutoDesk. Redshift, 22 Apr. 2014. Web. 7 Mar. 2017.
This article is reliable in my opinion because it meets the criteria of a creditable site. This site has the
author and date published at the very top of the page, has references to other articles to back up their information, a
short biography on the author is at the bottom of the page to prove the author's creditability, there are no spelling
mistakes or grammatical errors, explains why these precautionary methods are important and the amount of
information is greater than the number of visuals.

Barwise, Mike. What Is an Internet Worm? BBC. N.p., 9 Sept. 2010. Web. 7 Mar. 2017.
I think this website is holds accountable information because this site is a well known news channel, goes
into detail on the topic, author and date published can be found, there are no spelling or grammatical errors found
and there are links going more into detail on this topic.

Glynn, Fergal. Computer Worm. VERACODE, n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2017.

In my opinion I think this website does hold real information but it failed to meet some of the criteria of a
creditable website. For example this page did not include the date of when it was published and finding the author
was a little difficult since the author's name is written in a small font. Aside from those things the website went into
detail, had more substance than "flash", provided a link or two and there were no spelling or grammatical errors.

Robinson, Erin. What Is a Computer Worm? Aol Digital Matters. N.p., 5 Oct. 2012. Web. 8
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 This website meets the criteria of a reliable website because the author and date is at the top of the page and
can be easily found and there are links providing more information on certain areas. Besides those pros this website
does not go into detail about the topics mentioned and there is little detail in the article.

Landesman, Mary. What Are Adware and Spyware? Lifewire. N.p., 4 Sept. 2016. Web. 8 Mar.
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In my opinion I think this website is reliable because the author and date published is at the top and can be
found, has more substance than "flash", goes into detail about the topics mentioned and the author has provided
links and references to back up her information.

Beal, Vangie. The Difference between Adware & Spyware. Microsoft. Webopedia, 12 Feb.
2017. Web. 9 Mar. 2017.
This website is reliable in my opinion this website is reliable because it has all the characteristics a good
website is supposed to have. This website has references and links that explains certain topics in depth, has the
author and a link to a biography on the author, the date of when the article was published is at the top, has lots of
information, more information than visuals and no spelling or grammatical errors.