Anyone who owns a computer probably knows what a virus is. Most personal computers have been infected with a virus at one point or another. If you haven’t experienced this, it’s time you learn about it, because this can destroy your data. Viruses are programs created to be a nuisance. The term encompasses all sorts of malicious software existing on the market. While some are totally destructive, most are annoying that cause minor errors in the computer system.
The human population on this planet currently sits at 6.9 billion. Roughly one billion of its inhabitants, or 16.7 percent, owns or use a computer. Analysts project that by the end of this year it will double. With these figures in mind, let’s find out how many computers viruses infect and identify the most prevalent or common viruses. As of June 2009, there were approximately 1.9 million computers infected with some type of adware or malware. This estimate is quite conservative considering the number of unreported cases we estimate in many parts of the world.
Position |
Name |
Number of infected computers |
1 | Net-Worm.Win32.Kido.ih |
58,200 |
2 | Virus.Win32.Sality.aa |
28,758 |
3 | Trojan-Dropper.Win32.Flystud.ko |
13,064 |
4 | Trojan-Downloader.Win32.VB.eql |
12,395 |
5 | Worm.Win32.AutoRun.dui |
8,934 |
6 | Trojan.Win32.Autoit.ci |
8,662 |
7 | Virus.Win32.Virut.ce |
6,197 |
8 | Worm.Win32.Mabezat.b |
5,967 |
9 | Net-Worm.Win32.Kido.jq |
5,934 |
10 | Virus.Win32.Sality.z |
5,750 |
11 | Trojan-Downloader.JS.LuckySploit.q |
4,624 |
12 | Virus.Win32.Alman.b |
4,394 |
13 | Packed.Win32.Black.a |
4,317 |
14 | 14 Net-Worm.Win32.Kido.ix |
4,284 |
15 | Worm.Win32.AutoIt.i |
4,189 |
16 | Trojan-Downloader.WMA.GetCodec.u |
4,064 |
17 | Packed.Win32.Klone.bj |
3,882 |
18 | Email-Worm.Win32.Brontok.q |
3,794 |
19 | Worm.Win32.AutoRun.rxx |
3,677 |
20 | not-a-virus:AdWare.Win32.Shopper.v |
3,430 |
Spreading Malware
Malware is short for malicious software. Why malicious? Because it infiltrates a computer system. What is the goal of malware? The general goal of a malware is to harvest DATA. It can be user login, passwords, credit card information, bank accounts, or transactions or databases that are stored on your PC or web.
A few years ago, email spam with promotional or news-related items were the most popular ways of introducing a malware. However, individuals and companies have strengthened their e-mail security, which made emailing become less popular among hackers. Additionally, spam mails aren’t ready nearly as often as they used to be, now they automatically go to the trash folder.
Security experts believe that malware developers have changed their ways and strategies in delivering their attacks. Now, they spread through websites, using search links with bogus websites or clicks on icons of popular product advertisements like AV (anti-virus software), or even using events like the death of a popular artist, or advertising a popular movie that users would likely to download.
Below is the June 2009 stats for websites infected with malware (source: http://www.kaspersky.com/news?id=207575855):
Position |
Name |
Number of infected websites |
1 | Trojan-Downloader.JS.Gumblar.a |
27103 |
2 | Trojan-Downloader.JS.Iframe.ayt |
14563 |
3 | Trojan-Downloader.JS.LuckySploit.q |
6975 |
4 | Trojan-Clicker.HTML.IFrame.kr |
5535 |
5 | Trojan-Downloader.HTML.IFrame.sz |
4521 |
6 | Trojan-Downloader.JS.Major.c |
4326 |
7 | Trojan-Downloader.Win32.Agent.cdam |
3939 |
8 | Trojan-Clicker.HTML.IFrame.mq |
3922 |
9 | Trojan.JS.Agent.aat |
3318 |
10 | Trojan.Win32.RaMag.a |
3302 |
11 | Trojan-Clicker.SWF.Small.b |
2894 |
12 | Packed.JS.Agent.ab |
2648 |
13 | Trojan-Downloader.JS.Agent.czm |
2501 |
14 | Exploit.JS.Pdfka.gu |
2441 |
15 | Trojan-Clicker.JS.Agent.fp |
2332 |
16 | Trojan-Dropper.Win32.Agent.aiuf |
2002 |
17 | Exploit.JS.Pdfka.lr |
1995 |
18 | not-a-virus:AdWare.Win32.Shopper.l |
1945 |
19 | not-a-virus:AdWare.Win32.Shopper.v |
1870 |
20 | Exploit.SWF.Agent.az |
1747 |
From the table, it can be seen that thousands of websites have or are being infected by some form of malware. This is an indication that their delivery has gone to harboring or posting websites to delivering the malicious software.
How do hackers spread malware from websites?
1. Using search engines and posing as legitimate products. Everyone using a search engine from time to time. Malware users and developer are now using the same tools as legitimate web administrators in order to promote and get good rankings for their websites in search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, and AOL.
SEO (Search engine Optimization) – A technique used by website administrators to improve the volume of traffic for their websites has also been used by malware propagators in the form of Spamdexing, link farmsand keyword stuffing.
Paid Web Advertising – Criminals also pay to advertise their bogus websites that are packed with malwares. The advertisement could be a form of product to download or help the poor program.
2. Getting into social networking websites and other popular websites.
Ssocial networking websites like Facebook, Friendster, and Multiply are one of the hottest internet trends. Facebook.com alone garnered 1,191,373,339 monthly visits this year. It is believed that most of the users are not security conscious. This is very tempting for malware propagators to exploit. Their methods of attack:
– Post as a social networking website user and post malwares in the form of products or downloads.
– Post as a Facebook user who is known by a group and send message to see a Youtube link, a link engineered to make users think that they need to update their flash application to view it. By the time the user clicks the update button, malware kicks-in and installs a botnet, which not only infects the account but the entire server as well.
– Exploiting vulnerabilities of a CMS (Content Management System) website and then inserting malicious iframes. Inserting iframes is like loading one web page inside another. To conceal its presence, it is often a very small piece of code that is not visible from the browser. Most iframes redirect unwary users to malware sites.
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