Articles Index

Attachment

Email attachments are a common form on infection. Find out what threat these Internet worms pose, disguised as innocent attachments.

What is a Downloader Trojan?

A simple description of a downloader trojan.

Remote Access Trojan

RATs, or Remote Access Trojans, provide a "backdoor" into the system through which the unscrupulous hacker can snoop into your system - even running other malicious code if s/he chooses.

Trojan

A Trojan is a self-contained malicious program that is different from a virus but can have the same kind of effect on your computer.

Adobe Flash Cookies

Adobe Flash cookies work through the ubiquitous Adobe Flash and enables any of Adobe's partners to set global cookies that are maintained on Adobe's servers instead of your own computer. The offsite storage means you really aren't deleting cookies when you clear your local cache.

Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR)

ASLR Address Space Layout RandomizationASLR, or Address Space Layout Randomization, is method in which key data areas in the address space are randomized, making it more difficult for attackers to guess the location of libraries needed to carry out heap and stack based attacks.

Data Execution Prevention (DEP)

Data Execution Prevention, more commonly known as DEP, was first introduced in Windows XP Service Pack 2. As its name suggests, DEP prevents applications from executing code in non-executable regions of memory, a common method employed in buffer overflow attacks.

What is Malvertising?

Malvertising is malicious advertising that contains active scripts designed to download malware or force unwanted content onto your computer. Here's how to block it.

Spamdexing: Antivirus Glossary

Spamdexing is a method used to inflate the search engine rankings of a particular page, generally for malicious or unethical purposes.

Stealth Virus

Stealth viruses attempt to hide their presence to avoid detection.

Scanner

A scanner refers to the products and technology used by antivirus software vendors to detect and remove malicious code.

Portable Executable (PE_EXE)

A Portable Executable (PE_EXE) file is a program capable of running independently on any Windows 32-bit operating system

Polymorphic

Polymorphic viruses change their code in an attempt to avoid detection by antivirus scanners.

Payload

Traditionally, a virus payload referred to action a virus might take beyond simply infecting files.

Malware

Malware is an abbreviation for malicious software and refers collectively to viruses, worms, trojans, adware, and spyware.

Macro Virus

Unlike typical file infecting viruses, macro viruses infect data files - chiefly files created in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or even Access.

Integrity Checker

Integrity checkers scan and maintain a database of sorts regarding pertinent information on all or critical system files.

WildList

The WildList is a list of malware that have been reported by at least two separate reporting agencies.

In-the-Wild (ITW)

In-the-Wild (ItW) refers to viruses or other malware that are actively circulating or actively infecting users' computers.

Hoax

Virus hoaxes are messages that claim to be warnings of real virus threats.

Heuristics

Heuristic detection is generic detection designed to detect new or previously unseen malware.

Worm

A worm copies itself over and over, or mass emails itself. In either event, worms are a drain on Internet, system, and network resources.

Disinfection

Cleaning or otherwise removing a virus infection is referred to as disinfection.

False Positive

False positives occur when a pattern of code in the file matches the same pattern contained in a virus signature.

Buffer Overrun

A buffer overrun attack occurs when a malicious user exploits an unchecked buffer in a program.