Digital Forensics and Incident Response

Malware overview

Malicious software or malware is an all-encompassing term for any software that has been created to damage, disable or produce an unwanted condition within a computer system. This definition, while functional is also very broad in its categorization of malware. There is malware that is coded specifically to steal credit card numbers from payment systems while other malware is utilized to take control of a system allowing an attacker to remotely control that system. Analysts who observe these specific behaviours, such as how a compromised system sends communications out to the internet after infection, or what actions are taken on an infected system, may be able to determine what type the malware is, and what the end goal ...