Malware and Ransomware – What is Malware and How Can it Affect Your Business?
Malware is a term for malicious software that can be spread by unprotected networks and systems, stolen credentials, infected devices and even through ads on social media. Threats like ransomware, viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware, adware and other malware threats can be damaging to your business and cause significant downtime or loss of productivity. Understanding these threats and the best practices to prevent them is essential.
Many malware attacks are obfuscated with advanced techniques, including polymorphism and fileless code that can conceal and evade detection by traditional security solutions. Newer threats also leverage artificial intelligence to bypass detection through obfuscation and exploitation of known vulnerabilities in operating systems and other software.
Infections typically start with a phishing email or exploit kit that targets an unprotected system. Once the malware is downloaded, it can hide in files or use a backdoor to contact a controller (phone home) and install additional malware such as a keylogger that steals user data or cryptojacking software to mine cryptocurrency on a victim’s device.
Signs of an infection include a device slowing down, software/application crashes and an influx of pop-up ads. IT and security teams may also notice increased network traffic or unexplained changes to device configurations.
The most common tactics used by attackers to spread malware are social engineering and exploit kits, spam campaigns, rogue software and ransomware. Cybercriminals have a variety of motives for attacking businesses, including extorting money, making political statements or conducting industrial espionage. In the case of ransomware, they can encrypt critical data until victims pay a demanded ransom.