5 Malware Attacks You Should Know

The internet environment is considered the perfect place for attacks against businesses, companies or even governments. In many different ways, attackers make money with the data they exploit or attack by exchanging or bribing data. This causes many businesses to suffer and fear. So let’s learn about AZDIGI’s dangerous software attacks that you should know.

1. Code Red

Code Red terrified users in 2001, when it took over millions of computers, splashing a page across screens that read “CODE RED: WELCOME TO WORM.COM HACKED BY CHINESE.” This is known as a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. It spams sites with higher-than-normal traffic affecting hundreds of thousands of machines in a few hours, costing up to $2 billion (2001).

2. SQL Slammer

SQL attacks by instead taking advantage of email users’ curiosity. Slammer targeted and took advantage of a bug in the code of Microsoft SQL servers. It wreaked havoc and spread rapidly around the world and damaged 75,000 servers in 10 minutes in 2003.

3. WannaCry

In 2017, a massive coordinated attack on computer systems across the UK, Russia, Spain, Russia, Ukraine and Taiwan resulted in a hostile takeover of servers in those countries.

WannaCry is a virus known as ransomware. It takes control of the user’s computer, files, account and asks you to pay some money to regain control. This attack has affected so much that even hospitals in the UK have been forced to turn away patients and the NHS has also paid $300 to be able to regain administrative rights.

4. My Doom

This attack cost $38 billion in 2004 and took over peer-to-peer file-sharing programs like Google Docs by spreading via email and websites. It exploits infected computers and digs them into botnets to spam important websites. Google once offered a $250,000 reward to anyone with any information about creating it.

5. Conficker

In 2008, a Conficker attack crept into millions of computers, turning them into part of a botnet, then stealing users’ information.

Conficker makes it impossible for computers to communicate with secure 3rd party websites such as Symantec and MacAfee, which disables the Windows security system. That made the operating system unable to update itself to remove viruses.

The development of internet technology is increasingly leading to the widespread trend of attacks. So preventing and dealing with attacks is becoming increasingly complex for businesses and governments. The problem here is how to avoid these attacks!

Let’s follow AZDIGI’s blog for quick updates on the latest technology!