Evolution of MalwareJennifer Leggette and Michael Tyler

Four Phases:

1.Experiments2.Pranks3.Malicious/For Profit4.Future of Malware

Experiments

• Purpose: benign or caused accidental damage, mostly wanted to spread

• Why: Programmers wanted to gain experience

• Example: Creeper

Creeper

•Originated in the early 1970’s in Cambridge, Massachusetts

•Spread through ARPAnet

•Displayed:

I’M THE CREEPER: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

Pranks

• Some were harmless while others were highly damaging

• First malware prank: Elk Cloner, written by a high school student which the purpose was to display a poem on the screen once in every 50 boot ups.

Code Red

• July 2001 • Exploited buffer

overflow• Defaced websites

and launched denial of service attacks• Affected site read:“HELLO! Welcome to http://www.worm.com! Hacked by Chinese!”

ExploreZip• Microsoft Office, C source and C++ source files

Malicious/For Profit

• Adware•Display advertisements

• Spyware•Gain information about the user without their knowledge

• Ransomware•Prevents user from using system as normal

• Fake antivirus software

Future of Malware

• Espionage

• Cyberwarfare

• New Platforms