The use of computers, applications, and the internet have become an essential aspect of our daily lives. Right now, there is an estimate of 4.5 billion internet users in the world. This includes companies, businesses, and organizations. It made our activities easy and convenient.
With every advantage comes challenges. Even our digital files or web applications can be a single factor where malicious hackers target to attack or infect. Most of these attacks are web-based malware. Hackers will infect a web application with malicious software that can be triggered when clicked or downloaded. It is a computer program built to destroy computer devices, enable unauthorized access, or steal digital information and assets.
There are different types of malware, and some of these are worms, viruses, rootkits, ransomware, keyloggers, and trojan horses. Nevertheless, it is always essential that you know these threats, and your computer is well protected.
Let us learn more by defining web-based malware and how to keep yourself secure from it.
Web-based Malware Attack
It is an attack where the user’s computer is infected by the malware through access from infected websites or downloading.
Web attacks have two techniques, known as a drive-by download and social engineering.
Drive-by Download
This technique is done by creating a fake website and infecting it with a malicious program downloaded and installed on your computer once you visit the website. Hackers have been successful in this technique by strategically placing or masking the web link they created on a legitimate website.
Once the malware is activated, the user is directed to the malicious website where the malware can be downloaded to their computer or device. Malicious applications are programmed to backdoor access that allows them to control your device.
Social Engineering
This technique is done by hackers using psychological tricks to lure users into sharing their personal or vital information with them. They are diligently studying their targets and will use their interests to get their attention.
This method can be done in many ways, such as spear phishing, phishing, pretexting, scareware, and pretexting. The main target of this is human fallibility making it more of a challenge to prevent.
Detection
Because of the increase in recent attacks and cases concerning web-based malware, ethical hackers and experts have created applications to detect this malicious software and prevent them from getting into your system. Here are some of the preventive detection mechanisms.
Signature Detection
This method studies the attack pattern of different malware through machine learning algorithms, where it will be then categorized into groups.
Machine learning algorithms will identify the malware signatures and deny their access to your network system.
Virtual Machine Detection
This method uses virtual machines that would mimic the user’s activities and environment while observing your data files, searching for suspicious data.
An example of this is the sandbox. The sandbox provides the malware a playing area where it can roam as it is intended and where it can finally reveal itself. The virtual machine will then delete the file before it can do damage.
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