Ransomware, Malware and Spyware

What is Ransomware?

Ransomware is a type of malware used for data kidnapping, an exploit in which the attacker encrypts the victim's data and demands payment for the decryption key. A ransomware program can be installed from an e-mail attachment, an infected program, or a compromised or malicious Web site.

What is malware?

Malware" is short for malicious software and used as a single term to refer to virus, spy ware, worm etc. Malware is designed to cause damage to a stand alone computer or a networked pc. So wherever a malware term is used it means a program which is designed to damage your computer it may be a virus, worm or Trojan.

What is Spyware?

Spyware is Internet jargon for Advertising Supported software (Adware). It is a way for shareware authors to make money from a product, other than by selling it to the users. There are several large media companies that offer them to place banner ads in their products in exchange for a portion of the revenue from banner sales. This way, you don't have to pay for the software and the developers are still getting paid. If you find the banners annoying, there is usually an option to remove them, by paying the regular licensing fee.

List of most common Ransomware, Malware/Spyware in Year 2012.

Ukash Virus (Ransomware) :- Ukash Virus is an aggressive group of ransomware scams that tries to swindle your money from you. It is a very convincing virus because it uses alerts presented as given by an official institution, e.g. local or country’s police. It locks your computer completely therefore the only thing you can do is to see the message. If one wants to unlock the computer, the message advices to pay the fine. Of course, this is only a scam and paying the fine will not change anything. The institutions vary from police to copyright ones. However, in many cases the messages and designs are similar or even shared between versions and there are little unique details.

         
This ransomware is named Ukash Virus under the payment system it requires. The fines are paid using a pre-paid system called Ukash. None of official institutions would ask any payments via systems like Ukash therefore it only confirms that this is not a real warning but a virus used by scammers.

   
Ukash Virus gets into your PC through various security holes and vulnerabilities after visiting infected websites or downloading infected files. It might be distributed with a help of Trojan parasites too. Typically, updated and antivirus-protected PCs are quite safe, especially if Java is disabled. Once it is in your machine, you should remove Ukash Virus immediately.

The biggest problem is that Ukash Virus comes in several flavors and no single approach will be successful in all cases.

FBI Moneypak (Ransomeware) :- FBI Moneypak Ransomware is a PC threat that is sometimes exploited through spam email campaigns or by means of malicious websites. Either way, once the threat of FBI Moneypak Ransomware is present on a PC, it creates an aggravating scenario where a PC user is continually bombarded by misleading pop-up messages.Ransomware, FBI Moneypak Ransomware makes its presence well-known where it could limit the normal use of a computer or even block Internet access at times.FBI Moneypak Ransomware, in a way, holds an infected Windows PC for ransom until the user   gives in by relinquishing credit card information. The ultimate goal of FBI Moneypak Ransomware is to scam users out of money and then leave the infected PC with an unwanted malware threat on it.

Google Redirect Virus(Malware/Spyware) :-  Google Redirect Virus is a very notorious malware designed to redirect your searches to malicious websites. This virus is also known as browser hijack virus or search engine redirect virus. This virus is infecting thousands of new machines everyday and It is very hard to remove as it is bundled with many rootkits commonly known as TLD3 or Alureon Rootkits. These rootkits change your computer settings in such a way that when type Google’s web address in address bar of your web browser, you are not actually taken to Google but to a malicious webpage which looks exactly as Google. When you make a search, you’ll see results exactly like Google, but when you click on any of those results, you’ll be taken to a website you’re not supposed to visit.

INF/Autorun (Malware/Spyware) :- Worm:Win32/Autorun!inf is a detection for autorun.inf files that may be used by worms when spreading to local, network, or removable drives.When copying themselves to a drive, these worms also create a file named 'autorun.inf' in the root of the targeted drive. The autorun.inf file contains execution instructions for the operating system which are invoked when the drive is viewed using Windows Explorer, thus executing the copy of the worm.

Flame (Malware/Spyware) :- Flame,^[a] also known as Flamer, Skywiper, and Skywiper, is modular computer malware discovered in 2012 that attacks computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system.The program is being used for targeted cyber espionage in Middle Eastern countries. Its discovery was announced on 28 May 2012 by MAHER Center of Iranian National Computer Emergency Response Team.

Game Vance (Malware/Spyware) :-  It makes random ads pop up, it installs things and eats your computer’s HDD space, not good to download. 

My Web search (Malware/Spyware):-  A toolbar for Zwinky, etc. It’s known to download over 150 things on computer. It requests to have you shut off your anti-virus when you download it. If something ever asks that do not download it.