What is malware?
Malware stands for malicious software. It’s basically any software program that’s designed to harm your computer system in some way. Cyber criminals will use it to steal financial information from your business, gain personal information to leverage later or hold your systems hostage for a financial reward.
There are different types of malware, but they all share the goal of causing some kind of issue. Here are a few common ones:
- Viruses: These replicate themselves and spread from one computer to another, often by attaching themselves to files or emails. They can damage your files or even steal your data.
- Worms: Similar to viruses, worms can spread quickly across a network, but they don’t necessarily need to attach themselves to other files. Their goal is usually to overload a system with traffic or steal information.
- Trojan horses: These disguise themselves as legitimate software, so you might install them without realising it. Once they’re on your system, they can steal your data, install other malware or damage your files.
- Spyware: This software secretly monitors your activity on your computer, like your browsing history or keystrokes. It can then send this information to criminals.
- Ransomware: This particularly nasty type of malware locks you out of your own files or system and demands a ransom payment to get them back.
Key components_
- Payload: The core malicious code within the malware that performs the intended harmful action.
- Delivery mechanism: The method used to spread the malware, such as phishing emails, malicious website downloads or infected USB drives.
- Exploit: Malware may exploit vulnerabilities in software or operating systems to gain unauthorised access to a system.
- Persistence mechanism: Some malware can try to establish persistence on a system, allowing it to re-infect the system even after a reboot.
How Microsoft defends against malware_
- Microsoft Defender: Microsoft Defender Antivirus is a built-in solution for Windows 10 and 11 that provides real-time protection against various malware threats.
- Microsoft Defender for Endpoint: This cloud-based solution offers advanced threat protection, endpoint detection and response (EDR) and vulnerability management capabilities to combat sophisticated malware attacks.
- Microsoft Defender ATP (Advanced Threat Protection): This comprehensive service provides additional threat hunting, investigation and automated remediation capabilities against advanced malware variants.
