A user casually browsing the Internet is redirected to a warez site where a number of pop-ups appear. After clicking on a pop-up to complete a survey, a drive-by
download occurs. Which of the following is MOST likely to be contained in the download?
A.
Backdoor
B.
Spyware
C.
Logic bomb
D.
DDoS
E.
Smurf
Explanation:
Spyware is software that is used to gather information about a person or organization without their knowledge and sends that information to another entity.
Whenever spyware is used for malicious purposes, its presence is typically hidden from the user and can be difficult to detect. Some spyware, such as keyloggers,
may be installed by the owner of a shared, corporate, or public computer intentionally in order to monitor users.
Incorrect Answers:
A: A backdoor in a computer system (or cryptosystem or algorithm) is a method of bypassing normal authentication, securing unauthorized remote access to a
computer, obtaining access to plaintext, and so on, while attempting to remain undetected. The backdoor may take the form of an installed program (e.g., Back
Orifice) or may subvert the system through a rootkit. A backdoor is not what is described in this question. Therefore, this answer is incorrect.
C: A logic bomb is a piece of code intentionally inserted into a software system that will set off a malicious function when specified conditions are met. For example,
a programmer may hide a piece of code that starts deleting files should they ever be terminated from the company. A logic bomb is not what is described in this
question. Therefore, this answer is incorrect.D: A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is an attack from several different computers targeting a single computer.
Malware can carry DDoS attack mechanisms; one of the better-known examples of this was MyDoom. Its DoS mechanism was triggered on a specific date and
time. This type of DDoS involved hardcoding the target IP address prior to release of the malware and no further interaction was necessary to launch the attack.
ADDoS attack is not what is described in this question.
E: A smurf attack is a type of network security breach in which a network connected to the Internet is swamped with replies to ICMP echo (PING) requests. A smurf
attacker sends PING requests to an Internet broadcast address. These are special addresses that broadcast all received messages to the hosts connected to the
subnet. Each broadcast address can support up to 255 hosts, so a single PING request can be multiplied 255 times. The return address of the request itself is
spoofed to be the address of the attacker’s victim. All the hosts receiving the PING request reply to this victim’s address instead of the real sender’s address. A
single attacker sending hundreds or thousands of these PING messages per second can fill the victim’s T-1 (or even T-3) line with ping replies, bring the entire
Internet service to its knees. Smurfing falls under the general category of Denial of Service attacks — security attacks that don’t try to steal information, but instead
attempt to disable a computer or network. A smurf attack is not what is described in this question. Therefore, this answer is incorrect.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyware
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logic_bomb
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial-of-service_attack
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/smurf.html