| Adware:
Adware is a hidden software program that transmits user information via the Internet to advertisers in exchange for free downloaded software.
Software that brings targeted ads to your computer after you have provided initial consent. Adware will track your web surfing habits and report this to a central ad server.
While not necessarily malware, adware is considered to go beyond the reasonable advertising that one might expect from freeware or shareware. Typically a separate program that is installed at the same time as a shareware or similar program, adware will usually continue to generate advertising even when the user is not running the originally desired program. See also cookies, spyware, and web bugs. Many free utilities that you download from the Internet will install hidden software that sends details of the websites you visit and other information from your computer (which can include your email address) to advertisers so they can target you with popup ads and spam. See Spam, Spyware.
Annoyance: Any trojan that does not cause damage other than to annoy a user such as turning the text on the screen upside down or making the mouse move erratically.
ANSI Bomb: Character sequences that reprogram specific keys on the keyboard. Is ANSI.SYS is loaded, some bombs will display colorful messages or have interesting but unwanted graphical effects.
AOL Pest: Any password stealer, exploit, DoS attack or ICQ hack aimed at users of AOL.
Binder: A tool that combines two or more files into a single host file, usually for the purpose of hiding one of them. When you start the host, the embedded files in it are automatically decompressed and launched. Browser Help Object: (BHO) And internet Explorer exploit which will search all pages you view in IE and replace banner advertisements with other ads, monitor and report all you actions and change your home page to there own search page.
Commercial RAT: Any commercial product that is used for a remote administration but which might be exploited to do this without the users consent or awareness.
DDoS: A "distributed denial of service" attack is one that pits many other machines against a single victim.
Dialer: A trojan that dials expensive toll numbers without the users awareness or permission.
DoS: "Denial of Service". An exploit whose purpose is to deny somebody the use of the service, often by crashing or hanging or overloading a program or the entire system. Examples of DoS attacks include flooding the victim with more that can be handles.
Dropper: In viruses and trojans the dropper is the part of the program that installs the hostile code onto the system.
Encryption Tool: Any software that can be used to scramble documents, software, or systems so that only those possessing a valid key are able to unscramble it.
Firewall Killer: Any hacker tool intended to disable a users personal firewall. Some will also disable resident anti-virus software.
Flooder: A program that overloads a connection by any mechanism such as fast pinging or causing a DoS attack.
Hijacker: A trojan that may reset your browsers home page or search settings to point to other web sites. Such sites are often porn sites often loaded with advertising. Homepage hijackers may prevent you from changing you browsers home page.
Hostile ActiveX: A windows program that can be distributed from a web page and can do anything a windows program can do. Usually it does something that the user did not intend for it to do.
Hostile Java: A hostile applet that "breaks out" of a browsers "sandbox" and accesses other parts of the system. Most security experts brows with java disabled on their computers.
Hostile Script: A text for with a .VBS, .WSH, .JS, .HTA, .JSE or .VBE extension that is executed by Microsoft WScript or Microsoft Scripting Host Application and that performs unwanted actions.
IRC Ware: Any tool that uses internet chat for spoofing, eavesdropping, sniffing, spamming, breaking passwords, harassment, fraud, forgery, imposturing, electronic trespassing, tampering, hacking, nuking, etc.
Key Logger: A program that runs in the background and records all of the keystrokes on the keyboard. Once logged in the system they hidden in the machine for latter retrieval or shipped raw to the attacker.
Loader: Any program designed to load another program.
Mail Bomber: Software that will flood the victims inbox with hundreds or thousands of pieces of mail. Such mail does not generally correctly reveal its source.
Mailer: A program that creates and sends email with forged headers so that the source of the mail it sends can not be traced.
Nuker: A program that disables a machine through damage to the registry, key files, the file system, ect.
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Spyware: Any product that that employs a users internet connection in the background without their knowledge or explicit permission and gathers / transmits information on the user, their machine and their internet behavior. While they are sometimes sinister, like a remote control program used by a hacker, software companies have been known to use spyware to gather data about customers. The practice is generally frowned upon. On the Internet, "spyware is programming that is put in someone's computer to secretly gather information about the user and relay it to advertisers or other interested parties." As such, spyware is cause for public concern about privacy on the Internet. There are concerns that some Web sites and commercial organisations track users' online activity through the use of what is called ‘spyware'. Usually coming in the form of ‘cookies' - these enable the cookie writer to build-up information about what you do and where you go on the Web. Software is available that checks for and removes spyware. P2P: Any peer-to-peer file swapping program. In an organization, can degrade the network performance and consume vast amounts of storage. May create security issues as outsiders are granted access to internal files. Often bundled with adware or spyware.
Packer: A utility which compresses a file and encrypting it in the process. Packers are useful for trojan authors as they make their work undetectable by anti virus software.
Password Capture: A variant of the Key Logger that captures passwords as they are entered or transmitted. Some password capture trojans impersonate the login prompt asking the user to provide their password.
Password Cracking Word Lists: A list of words that a brute force password cracker can use to muscle its way into a system.
Phreaking Tool: Any executable that assists in hacking the phone system such as by using a sound card to imitate various audible tones.
Probe Tool: A tool that explores another system looking for vulnerabilities. While these can be used by security managers wishing to strengthen their security, the tools are just as likely used by attackers to evaluate where to start an attack.
RAT: (Remote Administration Tool) A trojan that when run provides the attacker with the capability of remote controlling a machine via a "client" in the attackers machine and a "server" in the victims machine.
Sniffer: A wiretap that eavesdrops on a computer network. The attacker must be between the attacker and the receiver in order to snif traffic. Sniffers a frequently used as part automated programs to snif information off the wire, such as passwords.
Spam Tool: Any software designed to extract email addresses from web pages and other sources and sendunsolicited mail to these addresses.
Spoofer: Any tool that can be used to forge an identify of an attacker so the attacker can not be traced back to its source.
Spyware: Any product that that employs a users internet connection in the background without their knowledge or explicit permission and gathers / transmits information on the user, their machine and their internet behavior.
While they are sometimes sinister, like a remote control program used by a hacker, software companies have been known to use spyware to gather data about customers. The practice is generally frowned upon. On the Internet, "spyware is programming that is put in someone's computer to secretly gather information about the user and relay it to advertisers or other interested parties." As such, spyware is cause for public concern about privacy on the Internet. There are concerns that some Web sites and commercial organisations track users' online activity through the use of what is called ‘spyware'. Usually coming in the form of ‘cookies' - these enable the cookie writer to build-up information about what you do and where you go on the Web. Software is available that checks for and removes spyware.
Spyware Cookie: Any cookie that is shared among two or more unrelated sites for the purpose of gathering and sharing private user information.
Trackware Cookie: Any cookie that is shared among two or more unrelated sites for the purpose of gathering and sharing private user information.
Trojan: Any program with a hidden, unwanted intent. Technically, AOL Pests, Dialers, Droppers, and RATs are all Trojans.
Trojan Source: Source code written bay a programmer in a high-level language and readable by people but not computers. This can be compiled to create working viruses.
Virus Source: Source code written bay a programmer in a high-level language and readable by people but not computers. This can be compiled to create working viruses.
War Dialer: (Demon-Dialing, carrier-scanning) The process of dialing all the numbers in a range in order to find any machine that answers, thereby finding a means of entering a system.
Worm: A program that propagates by attacking other machines and copying itself to them. Worms may replace files but do not insert themselves into files as viruses do.
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