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1 Information Weapon: Concepts, Means, Methods …
Monitors are multi-purpose. In particular, they serve to
• Completely or partially save the intercepted information in a place accessible to
the attacker;
• Distort data flows;
• Introduce undesirable information in data flows;
• Completely or partially block data flows;
• Use data flow monitoring to gather information about the attacked system.
Monitors make it possible to intercept a variety of information flows of the attacked
system. The most frequently intercepted flows are as follows:
• Data flows associated with reading, writing, and other file operations;
• Network traffic;
• Data flows associated with the removal of information from drives or RAM (the
so-called garbage collection).
Computer Worms
A virus is one of the varieties of malicious code that spreads by attaching to an
executable file or document (infecting it). Viruses may contain destructive functions,
such as erasing random files on a disk, disk formatting, or even erasing the computer’s
Flash-BIOS.
Computer worm is a malware computer program that replicates itself. Unlike a
virus, it does not get attached to other files, but spreads its own copies. The most
common e-mail worms are distributed by e-mail. When the user opens an infected
message, the worm is activated and starts sending messages containing its copies to
addresses from the recipient’s address book. E-mail worm epidemic can cause the
overload of communication channels and the “collapse” of the e-mail system.
An example of an e-mail worm is Love Letterworm, which is an attachment with
the extension.VBS.
Password Crackers
Password crackers intercept logins and passwords entered by users of the protected
system during identification and authentication. In a simple scenario, the intercepted
logins and passwords are saved in a text file. A more complex malicious logic is used
to send this information over the network to the attacker’s computer.
Based on their architecture, three main types of password crackers are distinguished.
1. Password crackers of the first type act according to the following scenario. An
attacker runs a program that contains malicious logic—a password cracker. It
simulates a user login prompt and waits for data input. When the user enters
login and password, the password cracker saves them in a place accessible to the
attacker and logs out of the user’s system. When the cracker’s work is finished,
a real login prompt appears on the screen. Having fallen victim to the cracker,
the user sees that he or she has failed to log in and is prompted to enter login and
1 Information Weapon: Concepts, Means, Methods …
Monitors are multi-purpose. In particular, they serve to
• Completely or partially save the intercepted information in a place accessible to
the attacker;
• Distort data flows;
• Introduce undesirable information in data flows;
• Completely or partially block data flows;
• Use data flow monitoring to gather information about the attacked system.
Monitors make it possible to intercept a variety of information flows of the attacked
system. The most frequently intercepted flows are as follows:
• Data flows associated with reading, writing, and other file operations;
• Network traffic;
• Data flows associated with the removal of information from drives or RAM (the
so-called garbage collection).
Computer Worms
A virus is one of the varieties of malicious code that spreads by attaching to an
executable file or document (infecting it). Viruses may contain destructive functions,
such as erasing random files on a disk, disk formatting, or even erasing the computer’s
Flash-BIOS.
Computer worm is a malware computer program that replicates itself. Unlike a
virus, it does not get attached to other files, but spreads its own copies. The most
common e-mail worms are distributed by e-mail. When the user opens an infected
message, the worm is activated and starts sending messages containing its copies to
addresses from the recipient’s address book. E-mail worm epidemic can cause the
overload of communication channels and the “collapse” of the e-mail system.
An example of an e-mail worm is Love Letterworm, which is an attachment with
the extension.VBS.
Password Crackers
Password crackers intercept logins and passwords entered by users of the protected
system during identification and authentication. In a simple scenario, the intercepted
logins and passwords are saved in a text file. A more complex malicious logic is used
to send this information over the network to the attacker’s computer.
Based on their architecture, three main types of password crackers are distinguished.
1. Password crackers of the first type act according to the following scenario. An
attacker runs a program that contains malicious logic—a password cracker. It
simulates a user login prompt and waits for data input. When the user enters
login and password, the password cracker saves them in a place accessible to the
attacker and logs out of the user’s system. When the cracker’s work is finished,
a real login prompt appears on the screen. Having fallen victim to the cracker,
the user sees that he or she has failed to log in and is prompted to enter login and