Hacker Culture A to Z

Chapter 13. M

Macintosh

See “Apple”

macOS

See “Apple”

Malware

Malware, short for “malicious software”, means any software that’s designed to cause harm. Sometimes malware is classified according to how it spreads from computer to computer, such as through viruses and worms. (Laypeople often erroneously call all malware “viruses.”) These days, however, we primarily classify malware according to the harm it causes.

Ransomware

Ransomware maliciously encrypts data on infected computers, using a key that’s only given to the computer’s rightful owner if they pay a hefty ransom to the cyberattacker. In the past several years, enterprise ransomware has emerged that not only maliciously encrypts data, but also breaches data. This is likely because maliciously encrypted data can be restored from backups, but no amount of backups will help a company if its sensitive data gets breached!

Spyware

Spyware spies on users, watching everything from keystrokes to passwords stored in web browsers to files on infected computers.

Rootkits

Rootkits have “root” (administrative) access to a computer and can be used to give an attacker dangerous remote control.

Trojans

Trojans require user interaction to execute, so they attract victims by appearing in the form of something a user might want, such as a media-playing application or a photo of a cute kitten attached to an email.

Some malware falls into multiple categories. For instance, ransomware that spreads through memory from computer to computer ...