2012 was the year of the computer virus thanks to cyber warfare being
encountered at the international level and hacktivists groups such as
LulzSec and Anonymous attacking websites on a daily basis. With computer
viruses and malware on the rise we take a look at three of 2012′s worst
computer viruses and malware. From government created programs to a
virus designed to redirect a users internet activities these viruses are
annoying, hard to remove and potentially deadly.
Flame Virus
This piece of modular computer malware was discovered by Kaspersky
labs in 2012, although it may have existed inside the governmental and
nuclear plant systems of Middle East agencies for years. Specifically
used for cyber espionage the Flame virus was capable of stealing system
information for computers running Microsoft Windows.
The Budapest University of Technology and Economics called
Flame “… the most sophisticated malware we encountered during our
practice; arguably, it is the most complex malware ever found.”
Able to spread over local network (LAN) or via USB stick the program
could record audio, take and send screenshots, log keyboard activity and
monitor network traffic. Skype conversations could also be recorded.
Because Flame used Microsoft certificates to go undetected it was incredibly hard to discover.
DNSChanger
This trojan was created by cybercriminals to redirect the Internet
traffic from a users computer to a phishing or malware website. For
example a user types in Yahoo.com but instead their browser takes them
to a malware equipped website where a virus is downloaded to their
computer.
When the FBI
managed to take over the servers that were redirecting traffic they
realized shutting down the operation would leave more than 250,000 users
without internet access. Instead the FBI set up a temporary routing
service of their own which allowed traffic to flow like normal.
Eventually the FBI shut down the temporary service, leaving thousands
of users with a virus that needed to be removed before they could
continue to use the web with uninterrupted service.
Guass
When a virus
security firm discovers a virus it can be a scary moment. That firm
must attempt to figure out how many computers the virus has infected,
what it is capable of doing and how to delete it. When Gauss was
discovered on 2,500 computer in Lebanon security firm Kaspersky (the
same group that discovered Flame) couldn’t figure out how to defeat the
virus.
Gauss was using state of the art encryption. As the New York Times explains:
“Among Gauss’s most puzzling components is an encrypted “warhead” that watches for a specific computer system with no Internet connection and installs itself only if it finds that configuration.”
Gauss much like Flame is suspected of being created at the state leve.
The severity of a computer virus is measured by the damage it can do,
the speed at which it can spread, the difficulty in detecting it and
the perceived threat it provides on a personal and national level.
2012′s worst computer viruses and malware serve to remind us that
hackers are becoming more advanced and our security is severely lacking.
