Most headaches for a Network administrator today would probably be from the wonderful
world of viruses. Without a good anti-virus program and a plan to utilize it, is like rolling the dice. You know know what you will come up with!
By the year 2002 there were well over 50,000 types (strains) of viruses roaming the world on the internet.
A virus has basically one purpose in its life, and that is to cause malicious damage, while some viruses do this through
propagation.
Viral infections in your PC take one of three basic forms;
- The MBR (Master boot record virus) attempts to redirect the system to an infected boot sector at system startup.
At this point it loads into memory before the operating system loads.
- The Macro virus is most commonly found with Microsoft Office programs like Word, or Excel, PowerPoint, etc. The
use of a Macro within any of these programs allows the virus to replicate and travel on its merry way.
A macro is a single keystroke that is used to complete repetitive tasks.
- The file infection virus typically infects files with .com, .exe, or .bat extensions, and are most common
when working with DOS compatible programs.
The Stealth virus has a way of hiding within the operating system and keeping itself clear of anti-virus software.
The Polymorphic virus has the ability to modify its code as it travels from system to system.
The Logic bomb is malicious code that is set to go of at a predetermined time or when an event occurs.
The Trojan Horse is code that appears as if it is OK, but when the opportunity arises it is unleashed and may
destroy a system.
The Worm has the ability to propagate itself without any user intervention. It will just replicate itself until
all available resources are unavailable
Some considerations when working with networks:
- Keep antivirus software up to date.
- Keep up to date on operating system patches, and if applicable to a security breach install the patch immediately. Do not wait.
A patch from Microsoft was available for the Code Red worm for over a month, before it caused havoc in 2001 through the
internet.
- Implement a company policy about downloading software, and installing non-company software and enforce it.
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