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Malware Quiz |
Most people who think they know all
about spyware, Trojans, viruses, and other malware really
don't. Take this quiz to make sure you know who your
enemies are.
This quiz tests your knowledge of five of the most common
kinds of malware, the software you don't want on your
computer: Trojan, worm, virus, spyware, and adware. Keep
in mind that there are at least seven other kinds of
malware we know about.
The answers are located at the end of the quiz.
1. Which of the following is most likely to make your
computer stop working?
a. Trojan
b. Worm
c. Virus
d. Spyware
e. Adware
2. Which of the following is not a stand-alone program?
a. Trojan
b. Worm
c. Virus
d. Spyware
e. Adware
3. Which of the following is most likely to send spam
emails from your computer?
a. Trojan
b. Worm
c. Virus
d. Spyware
e. Adware
4. Which of the following is lest likely to be detected
with standard antivirus software?
a. Trojan
b. Worm
c. Virus
d. Spyware
e. Adware
5. Which of the following is most likely to come with
other malware?
a. Trojan
b. Worm
c. Virus
d. Spyware
e. Adware
6. Which of the following is bundled with the peer-to-peer
file-sharing software, Kazaa?
a. Trojan
b. Worm
c. Virus
d. Spyware
e. Adware
7. Which of the following is most likely to install a
"backdoor" internet connection?
a. Trojan
b. Worm
c. Virus
d. Spyware
e. Adware
8. Which of the following is most likely to be involved in
a denial-of-service attack?
a. Trojan
b. Worm
c. Virus
d. Spyware
e. Adware
9. Which of the following is the only malware publicly
documented as having been employed by the FBI to bring a
suspect to trial?
a. Trojan
b. Worm
c. Virus
d. Spyware
e. Adware
10. Which of the following is most likely to steal your
identity?
a. Trojan
b. Worm
c. Virus
d. Spyware
e. Adware
Answers:
1. c. virus. Trojans, worms, spyware, and adware all
depend on your computer staying up and running. They use
your computer's resources to accomplish whatever their
designer intended, such as sending emails, displaying
advertising, or stealing information from your computer.
Viruses, however, are usually created by vandals who just
want to damage as many computers as possible.
2. c. virus. Viruses are not stand-alone programs. Just as
biological viruses must take over the cells of their host
in order to function and reproduce; computer viruses must
take over one or more files of the computer on which they
are stored. Trojans, worms, spyware, and adware are all
stand-alone programs that can run without the help of
another application, though they often come bundled with
other applications as a decoy, or with other malware.
3. b. worm. Worms are stand-alone programs that are often
used to send spam emails, or emails containing viruses.
Trojans often contain worms which are then installed for
the purpose of sending spam emails, but the worms are what
actually send the emails.
4. e. adware. In the strictest sense, adware is rarely
patently illegal or destructive, and so antivirus software
makers have traditionally avoided treating it as malware.
Adware designers are usually large advertising companies
with hundreds of millions of dollars, and they take care
to insert end-user licensing agreements (EULA) that
supposedly mean that the software is installed with
permission. Also, adware will not usually do anything more
destructive than show advertising. Nonetheless, adware can
quickly multiply on a computer, hogging system resources
and causing a computer to slow down or even malfunction.
That's why most anti-spyware software makers target adware
as well.
5. a. Trojan. By definition, Trojans bear other malware
within them, just as the mythical wooden worse bore Greek
warriors. The malware can be viruses, worms, spyware, or
adware.
6. e. adware, though d. spyware, is also correct. Kazaa's
developers, Sharman Networks, make most of their money
from the advertising shown by the included adware. The
adware typically runs even when the Kazaa software is not
in use. Sharman Networks has adamantly denied that the
adware that comes with Kazaa is spyware, since, like most
adware, it comes with an end-user license agreement that
says the user grants permission for the software to be
installed. In reality, few Kazaa users, until recently,
were aware of just how much adware was being installed on
their machines (as much as a dozen or more). Plus, the
adware does monitor your internet usage, and so is spyware
in the strictest sense.
7. b. worm. Worms most commonly install a "backdoor"
internet connection in order to send out data (for
instance, spam emails or requests to remote servers)
undetected.
8. b. worm. Worms, which most commonly install a
"backdoor" internet connection on the host computer, are
perfect for sending out the millions of server requests
needed to achieve a denial-of-service attack. A
denial-of-service attack is when a server is maliciously
sent so many hits that it is overwhelmed and cannot
continue to operate.
9. a. Trojan. The Trojan "Magic Lantern" was famously used
to install monitoring software on the computer of a
suspect who was later brought to trial partly on the
strength of the evidence gathered.
10. e. Spyware. Spyware is malware that collects
information from your computer and sends it to another
remote machine, so by definition any software that steals
your identity is spyware. However, spyware is often
installed on your computer by a Trojan, or sent to you by
another computer infected with a worm, so other kinds of
malware pose an indirect threat of identity theft as well.
About The Author:
Joel Walsh writes for spyware-refuge.com about spyware,
viruses, Trojans, adware, worms, and other malware:
http://www.spyware-refuge.com ? Computer Viruses
"Computer Viruses"
For more articles on this topic and
others visit http://www.article-directory.net
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