Glossary of Virus Terms - M
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Macro viruses
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During the late 1990s and early 2000, macro viruses were the most prevalent viruses.
Unlike other virus types, macro viruses are not specific to an operating system
and spread with ease via email attachments, floppy disks, Web downloads, file transfers,
and cooperative applications.
Popular applications that support macros (such as Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel)
are the most common platforms for this type of virus. These viruses are written
in Visual Basic and are relatively easy to create. Macro viruses infect at different
points during a file's use, for example, when it is opened, saved, closed, or deleted.
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Malware
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A malware is a program that performs unexpected or unauthorized, but always malicious,
actions. It is a general term used to refer to both viruses and Trojans, which respectively
include replicating and non-replicating malicious code.
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Malware Advisories
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Trend Micro issues advisories to inform users of newly discovered malware threats
that are either already prevalent or will likely spread. Advisories may also cover
proof-of-concept malware and old malware that have recently become newsworthy.
The Malware Advisories tab on the Security Information page is a listing of current
and significant malware threats with corresponding risk ratings, the dates when
they are incorporated into the list, and the pattern files needed to detect them.
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Malware Related [Trojan/Spyware]
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Some malware may arrive from an email or execute from a malicious Web site. Once
installed, it modifies the Windows Hosts file in such a way that whenever the user
visits certain legitimate business sites, such as banks or credit card companies,
the browser will be redirected to a spoofed Web site.
Some are memory-resident, meaning they monitor the affected user's Internet browsing
activities and wait for the user to visit certain legitimate business sites, such
as banks or credit card companies, where they activate.
When the title bar of any window contains certain strings related to the targeted
business is activated, a bogus logon window is displayed that is used to trick the
user into entering personal account information. Once gathered, the personal information
is sent to the malicious user via email.
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Malware size
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This field indicates the size (or size range) of the malware's code in bytes. For
file infectors, this typically indicates the size of the infecting code. Older file
infecting viruses are often given names based on their file size to distinguish
variants from the same malware family.
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Malware-related hoaxes
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Malware-related hoaxes are warnings that contain incorrect information about malware
or computer system events. These warnings often describe fantastical or impossible
malware program characteristics meant to trick users into performing unwanted actions
on their computers. Malware-related hoaxes typically reach users as email and often
suggest that users forward them, resulting in a waste of time and bandwidth. |
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Memory-residency
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Memory-residency is the ability to stay in computer memory after execution and continuously
run. This capability is generally expected of certain malware types, specifically
backdoors, which stay in memory to await commands. Certain file infectors also stay
in memory to infect files as they are opened; while some worms stay in memory to
continually send email.
Programs that stay in memory are generally referred to as memory-resident. The files
related to these running programs cannot be modified, deleted, or moved unless they
are terminated. |
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Multi-partite viruses
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Multi-partite viruses have characteristics of both boot sector viruses and file
infecting viruses.
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