Viruses, worms, trojans, ransomware and spyware, and attacks that trick people instead of machines.
What you will learn
- Tell the types of malware apart
- Recognise phishing, blagging and shouldering
- Spot the signs of a phishing message
Malware
Malware is software written to cause harm or to steal.
| Type | What it does |
|---|---|
| Virus | attaches to other files and spreads when they are opened or run |
| Worm | copies itself across a network on its own |
| Trojan | pretends to be useful software, then does harm once installed |
| Ransomware | encrypts files and demands payment for the key |
| Spyware | secretly records what the user does (such as key presses) and sends it on |
The rest of this lesson and its 7 practice questions are locked.
In this lesson
- Malware
- Social engineering
- Try it: Name that malware
7 practice questions, marked as you go; about 20 minutes in all.
Key terms
Malware, Social engineering, Blagging
In this unit: Cyber security
Malware and social engineering, brute force, denial of service, SQL injection and interception, and the defences against them, with Caesar ciphers and password maths.
- Malware and social engineering
- Attacks on systems
- Protecting systems
- Encryption and the Caesar cipher
- Extended answers