The Common Types of Viruses Affecting Business Networks

Types of Viruses Affecting Business Networks

The realm of the World Wide Web is quite dangerous. Well, it is likely that your mother may have prohibited you from talking to strangers. This advice is just as good in the virtual world. Hackers and cybercriminals use a slew of methods to get you to divulge your confidential and sensitive business information. The sheer number and variety of viruses that are out there in today’s cyber world is enough to make a person’s head spin. Malware and viruses are software that can compromise a computer system, bypass controls, steal sensitive data and cause other harm to a host computer.

Here are a few common types of viruses that are hurting business networks:

Trojan Horse

A Trojan horse is a piece of software that masquerades as something other than what is in reality.  Business users can end up infecting their computer with this software simply by downloading an app they considered legitimate but in reality, it was malicious. Once this software penetrates your business network, it can do literally everything from recording your passwords to hijacking your webcam.

Botnet

A botnet is used to refer to a group of computer systems having a connection to the internet that a hacker has compromised using a virus. The botnet takes order from a bot master to undertake various nefarious activities. This virus can distribute spam and perform attacks like denial of service among other things. A denial of service attack brings down a web server by flooding it with excessive access requests.

Ransomware

This form of virus is especially relevant in the light of recent attacks on corporate networks. This software holds a computer captive and demands a ransom. It greatly limits users’ access to a computer system either by locking down a system or by encrypting files on a computer’s hard drive.

Articles to read

Why Businesses Should Take Ransomware Seriously

A broader list of computer virus types can be found at makeuseof.com

Understanding Ransomware and the Threats It Poses for Businesses