Thousands of viruses are known to exist, with more being created each day. In addition to viruses, new threats designed to exploit vulnerabilities in corporate email systems and Web sites continue to emerge. These include spyware, phish sites, network viruses, Trojans, and worms.
Collectively, these threats are known as �security risks.� Here is a summary of the major threat types:
|
Threat Type |
Characteristics |
|
Denial of Service (DoS) attack |
Repeated massive access of a Web service, preventing other systems from accessing the service and from retrieving data from it |
|
phish |
Unsolicited email requesting user verification of private information, such as credit card or bank account numbers, with the intent to commit fraud |
|
spyware/grayware |
Technology that aids in gathering information about a person or organization without their knowledge |
|
Trojan |
Malware that performs unexpected or unauthorized, often malicious, actions - Trojans cause damage, expected system behavior, and compromise system security, but unlike viruses, they do not replicate |
|
virus |
A program that carries a destructive payload, and replicates - spreading quickly to infect other systems. By far, viruses remain the most prevalent threat to computing. |
|
worm |
A self-contained program or set of programs that is able to spread functional copies of itself or its segments to other computer systems, typically through network connections or email attachments |