The Big Business of Malware

Author: Neal Shelton, Techie at Claris Networks

Malware is big business, and infecting your computer is a cybercriminal’s cash cow. Hackers and other cybercriminals create malware which banks them hundreds of thousands—and sometimes millions—of dollars. Lucrative ways to ways to victimize your devices, data, and identity abound. Today, we will highlight some of the most common methods in the big business of cybercrime and malware: ransomware, corporate data breaches, and potentially unwanted programs.

Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUP)

PUPs are probably the easiest type of malware that could infect your computer.  Almost everyone has fallen victim to this kind of infection because everyone has needed to update their Java software at some point. While installing Java updates, if you click next through the prompts without reading them, your computer will be infected with one or more PUPs. You will end up with the Ask.com toolbar, Ask.com as a homepage, and your default search provider will now be Ask.com. Ask.com isn’t particularly malicious, but you also didn’t ask for it. “Potentially Unwanted Program” perfectly describes the ask.com toolbar.

There are countless other PUPs that can infect your computer. Most of these programs want to redirect you to their page or send you advertisements. The more visitors a web developer can get to their website, the more money they make from advertisements. Methods of installing a PUP on your computer are constantly changing, but most often it comes bundled with the install of a legitimate program.

The good news: This type of malware can commonly be avoided by reading the small print, or choosing custom and advanced install options.

The bad news: Not all PUPs are just redirects for advertisements. Some of the worst include password crackers, spyware, and even backdoors for hackers to gain access to a victim’s entire computer.

Ransomware

Ransomware’s one purpose is to encrypt your files and extort money out of you. To get the decryption key required to regain access to your data, you have to actually pay the cybercriminal to have your files unlocked.

Victims receive a message stating that there has been illegal activity detected, and a fine must be paid to gain access to personal files. A link is given and the victim can choose to pay with Bitcoin or a credit card.

If we all backed up our data regularly, this wouldn’t be a problem. But since most people typically don’t backup their files, they feel like they must pay the ransom. For one recent ransomware outbreak, the anonymous criminals running this digital extortion ring even setup a “Customer Service” website to help victims pay and unlock their files. How thoughtful, right? Learn more about “Cryptolocker” ransomware here.

The good news: the original Cryptolocker was cracked by security experts. They offer a secure site to have your files decrypted for free. https://www.decryptcryptolocker.com/

The bad news: Cryptolocker hackers made over $1 million in just a single day of payments, and some estimates say they earned over $25 million in total. Often, the authors of a successful malware/ransomware will “franchise” their program so that other hackers can tweak it to fit their own ends. Cryptolocker knock-offs have been active for a while.

Corporate Data Breaches

Home Depot is a recent, high-profile corporate data breach victim. Malware infected the Home Depot network and hackers stole payment card information.

The good news: When this kind of data breach happens, the company impacted typically offers free identity protection services to customers and victims. In the case of Home Depot, if you were a customer any time after April of this year, you qualify to sign up for the service.

Home Depot has stated that as many as 56 million cards were stolen in this breach. If the hackers manage to get $1 from 5% of the accounts stolen, they would be $2.8 million richer.

The bad news: There is not much you can do to prevent becoming the victim of a corporate data breach. Companies process payments electronically, so as soon as you swipe your card your payment data is gone. There have been already been reports of Home Depot breach victims’ accounts being drained of cash.

Conclusion

Malware is big business for the cybercriminal. The motivation is strong to develop new ways to steal your money. The good news is that it avoiding most infections is pretty simple. An abundance of caution, especially when downloading files and applications from the Internet, can go a long way.

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About the Author

Neal Shelton is one of the Claris super-geeks with a passion for writing, tinkering, and fixing things. Neal’s based out of Chattanooga, where he lives with his wife and 3 young daughters. He was also a Blackhawk Crewchief in the Army, doing tours in both Korea and Afghanistan. If you’re interested, this is his helicopter landing in Afghanistan.

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