Hello PMC!

Today im going to go over: Common Malware, What they do And how they spread.
Lets get started.

The RAT.

What is a RAT?
A RAT is Remote Access Trojan Or Remote Adminastrative Tool.

What does it do?
A RAT can give the Hacker Just about complete control of the computer.
I'll list some of the things it can do below.
*Add more virus to the computer
*Gain access to Confidential information; Creditcard Data, Passwords etc
*Use your webcam and take screenshots
*Run programs
*Run any command
*Format Harddrives.
AND much more.

In other words. Not a good thing.

*note, not all RAT's Are used for evil, some can be used for simply accessing your own computer from elsewhere. Check on what your child is doing etc*


The LLS.

A LLS is a Last Login Stealer. (This will refer to common LLS malware, not specifically minecraft)

What it usually does it Take the input of a User and send it somewhere. *Kinda like a keylogger*
Usually Via Email.

Lets give an example using a Game. Brickforce.
The user, see's a video about how to get 100000's of brickpoints using a program, so the user downloads it and runs it.
It then comes up "Type your user name and pass for 1000000's of brickpoints to get added to your account"
He then types his user and pass in and clicks ok and it pops up "ok wait for you brickpoints to arrive"

What really happened, When the user typed the Username and Password in the input section and clicked ok, it sent the Username and pass,
to a specified email(commonly) in the code. No points were added, and the Hacker now got the account and do as it wants with it.

*these are all over the web, NEVER trust an external application with a username and password*

Adware.

While Browsing the web, You sometimes notice advertisements that were not there before.
Or sometimes an Ad free site will have ads on it. This is because you have adware on your computer
When you open a page on the internet it downloads something called a page. (Infact Even this is a page)
When a Page is downloaded, the adware does its thing, it alters the page, adding to the general code
Inserting Links or ads of all kinds.
Just a simple computer/browser scan can help find the adware on your pc!
Spyware.
Here's a wiki for you! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyware
But im going to try my best and Explain it here for you!

Ok, Spyware. Im sure you've heard of the word. And you judge it by its name. 'Spy'Ware.
It generally just sits on your computer, hidden doing simple undetectable tasks.
These tasks can range from as simple as collecting login info, to as dangerous as stealing bank accounts.

Basically, Hence it's name spy, it generally sits hidden collecting information.
Spyware type virus's often enter your computer Usually by a program that has entered the computer.
Or manually installed.


Worms.
What is a worm? A worm is a self-replicating Malware.
Whats the difference between a worm and a trojan?
For one, A Trojan isnt self-Replicating.
And it doesnt need to be attach itself to a program to be released.

Well, how does it spread around then?
By using a Network. Imagine it as, it copys it self all over the computer and then spreads onto the next one in the network.

What does it do?
Worms Arent like virus, they usually don't alter programs/files in anyway. They do something called 'Payload'.
Payload is when there is excessive Bandwidth or RAM being used. Worms Often cause this.
Mainly because of Network they control. Basically, causing massive internet lag or General computer lag making your Computer go Slow.

They also open a backdoor into the network. Allowing More breaches to let Virus's and Malware enter the computer undetected and freely.

Worms are often the cause of adding a bot or making your computer part of a botnet.

Botnets.
A Botnet is a Series of computers/servers linked together by virus's or bots.
The owner of the botnet, can control these bots as the Controller wants.
Ill give a common example.

DDoS, I'm sure every serverowner/hacker/player has heard of this.
Basically, A botnet activates bots, making the infected computer send ping/command packets towards an IP address.
Causing the server to overload and crash.

Major botnets include thousands of computers linked together using these 'Bots' Or even 100'000's of computers.
Which can cause easy crashing Towards an IP in seconds.
Inactive infected computers are called zombies.

How they spread, and how they manage to work on most/all computers?

Most common ways are by Java. The Java-platform have a interpreter that Transforms java Language into Machine Language(look up more about this, im not going over it)
Basically, Allowing any .Java Type Malware to work on almost all computers.

Execution file or known as .EXE. ( I believe EXE only works on Windows? Not Mac, unless you have an interpreter)
basically runs A batched command or file(s) in series of linked commands.

How do people get these, but without knowing at the time? Well, usually by false advertising.
For example, somebody is asking about how to install optifine easily. And you send them a virus named 'Optifineinstaller.exe'
And they open it believing it will install optifine, running it and adding a virus.

Another way is Using the browser. To view pages, the browser must download the info/files from the site and then it becomes viewable. And sometimes, in these files/info are worms, trojans or a Javascript to run.
Another words, don't open suspicious sites.


This is just some of the virus's I know about.
If you think i should add more virus types or suggest i update my info leave a comment.

Some programs that help:
*HouseCall <-- A free Computer scanner that searches for virus.
*RuBotted <-- Searches for bots on your computer

Diamond this is you think this helped you.