Most people who think they know all about spyware, Trojans, viruses, and other malware really don't. Take this quiz to make sure you know who your enemies are.
This quiz tests your knowledge of five of the most common kinds of malware, the software you don't want on your computer: Trojan, worm, virus, spyware, and adware. Keep in mind that there are at least seven other kinds of malware we know about.
The answers are located at the end of the quiz.
1. Which of the following is most likely to make your computer stop working?
a. Trojan
b. Worm
c. Virus
d. Spyware
e. Adware
2. Which of the following is not a stand-alone program?
a. Trojan
b. Worm
c. Virus
d. Spyware
e. Adware
3. Which of the following is most likely to send spam emails from your computer?
a. Trojan
b. Worm
c. Virus
d. Spyware
e. Adware
4. Which of the following is lest likely to be detected with standard antivirus software?
a. Trojan
b. Worm
c. Virus
d. Spyware
e. Adware
5. Which of the following is most likely to come with other malware?
a. Trojan
b. Worm
c. Virus
d. Spyware
e. Adware
6. Which of the following is bundled with the peer-to-peer file-sharing software, Kazaa?
a. Trojan
b. Worm
c. Virus
d. Spyware
e. Adware
7. Which of the following is most likely to install a "backdoor" internet connection?
a. Trojan
b. Worm
c. Virus
d. Spyware
e. Adware
8. Which of the following is most likely to be involved in a denial-of-service attack?
a. Trojan
b. Worm
c. Virus
d. Spyware
e. Adware
9. Which of the following is the only malware publicly documented as having been employed by the FBI to bring a suspect to trial?
a. Trojan
b. Worm
c. Virus
d. Spyware
e. Adware
10. Which of the following is most likely to steal your identity?
a. Trojan
b. Worm
c. Virus
d. Spyware
e. Adware
Answers:
1. c. virus. Trojans, worms, spyware, and adware all depend on your computer staying up and running. They use your computer's resources to accomplish whatever their designer intended, such as sending emails, displaying advertising, or stealing information from your computer. Viruses, however, are usually created by vandals who just want to damage as many computers as possible.
2. c. virus. Viruses are not stand-alone programs. Just as biological viruses must take over the cells of their host in order to function and reproduce; computer viruses must take over one or more files of the computer on which they are stored. Trojans, worms, spyware, and adware are all stand-alone programs that can run without the help of another application, though they often come bundled with other applications as a decoy, or with other malware.
3. b. worm. Worms are stand-alone programs that are often used to send spam emails, or emails containing viruses. Trojans often contain worms which are then installed for the purpose of sending spam emails, but the worms are what actually send the emails.
4. e. adware. In the strictest sense, adware is rarely patently illegal or destructive, and so antivirus software makers have traditionally avoided treating it as malware. Adware designers are usually large advertising companies with hundreds of millions of dollars, and they take care to insert end-user licensing agreements (EULA) that supposedly mean that the software is installed with permission. Also, adware will not usually do anything more destructive than show advertising. Nonetheless, adware can quickly multiply on a computer, hogging system resources and causing a computer to slow down or even malfunction. That's why most anti-spyware software makers target adware as well.
5. a. Trojan. By definition, Trojans bear other malware within them, just as the mythical wooden worse bore Greek warriors. The malware can be viruses, worms, spyware, or adware.
6. e. adware, though d. spyware, is also correct. Kazaa's developers, Sharman Networks, make most of their money from the advertising shown by the included adware. The adware typically runs even when the Kazaa software is not in use. Sharman Networks has adamantly denied that the adware that comes with Kazaa is spyware, since, like most adware, it comes with an end-user license agreement that says the user grants permission for the software to be installed. In reality, few Kazaa users, until recently, were aware of just how much adware was being installed on their machines (as much as a dozen or more). Plus, the adware does monitor your internet usage, and so is spyware in the strictest sense.
7. b. worm. Worms most commonly install a "backdoor" internet connection in order to send out data (for instance, spam emails or requests to remote servers) undetected.
8. b. worm. Worms, which most commonly install a "backdoor" internet connection on the host computer, are perfect for sending out the millions of server requests needed to achieve a denial-of-service attack. A denial-of-service attack is when a server is maliciously sent so many hits that it is overwhelmed and cannot continue to operate.
9. a. Trojan. The Trojan "Magic Lantern" was famously used to install monitoring software on the computer of a suspect who was later brought to trial partly on the strength of the evidence gathered.
10. e. Spyware. Spyware is malware that collects information from your computer and sends it to another remote machine, so by definition any software that steals your identity is spyware. However, spyware is often installed on your computer by a Trojan, or sent to you by another computer infected with a worm, so other kinds of malware pose an indirect threat of identity theft as well.
About the author:
Joel Walsh writes for spyware-refuge.com about spyware, viruses, Trojans, adware, worms, and other malware: http://www.spyware-refuge.com?Computer Viruses[Publish this article on your website! Requirement: live link for above URL/web address w/ link text/anchor text: "Computer Viruses" OR leave this bracketed message intact.]
SMS, or Short Message Service, is the technology behind what we often
refer to as ‘text messages’ or ‘SMSes’, as well as what allows for news
alerts on cellular phones. In recent years SMS has ballooned to over a 50
billion dollar industry and is quickly taking the communications world by
storm.
Short Message Service actually refers to a framework that uniquely
allows computers, or in this case phones, to communicate with each other
without the need of a central hub. With SMS, phones can find each other,
send short packets of information back and forth, and do it all without
any central computer to guide them. But because the system does not rely
upon fixed lines like a land based telephone system does, the amount of
information that can be sent at one time is limited in size. This depends
on the language spoken, but for English letters this typically means
around 150 characters (Chinese and Japanese letters are limited to 70).
Quite recently, however, new developments in the technology have
allowed for even longer messages to be sent. Long or Concatenated SMS is a
development that allows multiple messages to be combined to form a single
message. In effect, what happens is that your phone actually sends out a
few smaller messages and then the receiving phone simply compiles those
messages so that for users on both ends, it appears as though the message
were cohesive. While there are some limitations, the brilliance behind SMS
is that because there is no need for central hubs, and thus the system can
be expanded indefinitely without any concerns of it slowing down or
becoming more expensive.
The most common form of SMS is ‘texting’. This usually takes place with
a cellular phone in which individuals use the letters behind the number
pad on their phone to spell out words and phrases and then send them out.
Because many companies charge by the word, individuals have come up with a
sort of ‘texting slang’ to cut down on the amount of words required to
convey a particular message. For example, ‘gr8’ and ‘BTW’ mean ‘great’ and
‘by the way’. In addition, other words have just been shortened, such as
‘lata’ to mean ‘later’. Most users simply pick up the lingo through
frequent use, and although some slang is widely understood and used, other
shortcuts are developed within circles of friends and family.
The major advantage of SMS is its price. The price is typically $0.05
per message, a significant cut below that of traditional telephony and
cell phone per-minute charges. The savings of SMS has its roots in the
nature of the technology. Short Message Service, like SIP, is modeled on a
peer to peer model and not a cog and wheel like traditional communication
systems. This means that instead of having to route a message through a
central hub, your text goes straight from you to its destination. This has
radically cut down on the cost of SMS implementation and led to its
overwhelming popularity throughout the world.
Short Message Service (SMS) has radically changed the face of the
communications industry. While the practice has become quite common
throughout the world, it has only recently become popular here in the
United Stats, a growth partly predicated upon, surprisingly enough, its
featured role in the show American Idol. The fact that ‘texting’ is
quickly gaining both in popularity and recognition in the United States is
not surprising however, due to its ability to offer users a cheap, quick,
and often fun way to communicate with friends and family.
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