What is malicious software?
Malicious software (malware) is any software that gives partial to full
control of your computer to do whatever the malware creator wants. Malware
can be a virus, worm, trojan, adware, spyware, root kit, etc. The damage done
can vary from something slight as changing the author's name on a document to
full control of your machine without your ability to easily find out. Most
malware requires the user to initiate it's operation. Some vectors of attack
include attachments in e-mails, browsing a malicious website that installs
software after the user clicks ok on a pop-up, and from vulnerabilities in
the operating system or programs. Malware is not limited to one operating
system.
Malware types can be categorized as follows: viruses, worms, trojans, and backdoors seek to infect and spread themselves to create more havoc. Adware and spyware seek to embed themselves to watch what the user does and act upon that data. Root kits seek to give full access of your machine to the attacker to do what they want.
What can I do?
Anti-Malware Software
Anti-virus software is available to UCLA Faculty/Staff/Students. Check our virus
website or Microsoft's
website for more information.
SEASnet does not have any anti-spyware/anti-adware, but the campus does
have a license for Webroot Spy Sweeper. In addition, there are quite a few
anti-spyware/anti-adware programs available on the internet. Here is a list
of a few of them:
Root kits were primarily the domain of Unix based operating systems,
however, Windows root kits are starting to show up. Here are a few Root kit
tools:
*Some websites require Internet Explorer to work properly. If the alternate web browsers do not work for these websites, then fall back to using IE.