D
David H. Lipman
From: "Gary S. Terhune" <none>
| Well, to further the discussion, is it not also true that trojans and
| viruses have different goals? One to steal data and the other to wreck the
| systems it infects? And whereas a virus can install a trojan, the obverse is
| not true? Or are those lines also blurred?
|
Goals ?
No. All malware have similar goals and do it with various payloads.
Both viruses and Trojans can steal data. Both Trojans and viruses can wreak a computer.
A Trojan is malware that can have the same intent as a virus but not self replicate. The
replication can be via appending, prepending or inserting itself into executables or the
hard disk data structure. It could also be performed by utilizing networking protocols such
as; NNTP, SMTP, SMB, NetBIOS over IP, FTP, TFTP, etc... A Trojan needs assistance to
spread like deliberate email distribution, exploitation, social engineering or peer malware.
A virus can install a Trojan. A Trojan can install a virus. Many forms of malware have
symbiotic relationships. Look at McAfee's Stinger utility. It main target are Internet
worms. Viruses that spread via network protocols. There are also a few Trojans in the
target list. They are there because the Trojans work in a symbiotic relationship and/or
associated with the I-worms.
As for the goals of malware one must relate the malware to the time period of when they were
released. A virus propagated in 1994 will have different goals and objectives then a virus
propagated in 2004. As a function of time the goals shift. Today the goal is often related
to monetary gains over a decade ago where the goal was destruction. Malware Today WANTS a
running computer, not a broken computer.
| Well, to further the discussion, is it not also true that trojans and
| viruses have different goals? One to steal data and the other to wreck the
| systems it infects? And whereas a virus can install a trojan, the obverse is
| not true? Or are those lines also blurred?
|
Goals ?
No. All malware have similar goals and do it with various payloads.
Both viruses and Trojans can steal data. Both Trojans and viruses can wreak a computer.
A Trojan is malware that can have the same intent as a virus but not self replicate. The
replication can be via appending, prepending or inserting itself into executables or the
hard disk data structure. It could also be performed by utilizing networking protocols such
as; NNTP, SMTP, SMB, NetBIOS over IP, FTP, TFTP, etc... A Trojan needs assistance to
spread like deliberate email distribution, exploitation, social engineering or peer malware.
A virus can install a Trojan. A Trojan can install a virus. Many forms of malware have
symbiotic relationships. Look at McAfee's Stinger utility. It main target are Internet
worms. Viruses that spread via network protocols. There are also a few Trojans in the
target list. They are there because the Trojans work in a symbiotic relationship and/or
associated with the I-worms.
As for the goals of malware one must relate the malware to the time period of when they were
released. A virus propagated in 1994 will have different goals and objectives then a virus
propagated in 2004. As a function of time the goals shift. Today the goal is often related
to monetary gains over a decade ago where the goal was destruction. Malware Today WANTS a
running computer, not a broken computer.