Internal Threats to the Corporate Network. Inside the corporate network, a virus can spread all over the place. There is nothing that can stop this from happening. Once your computer has been infected, taking advantage of all the information that it has on you and your system, it will begin replicating itself in other files. This is when things get difficult because each time a file is replicated it creates more copies of itself in your local or network domain; meaning more damage and harder to repair.
Internal threats to the corporate network can occur through a variety of methods, including:
Virus Infection and Virus Spread
The most common way for a virus to spread is to replicate itself and infect other files on a local or network computer. The more the virus knows about its victim the more it will be able to spread. This is what makes the infection attempt so dangerous.
Viruses are the most common threat to your computer. They can be passed from person to computer via physical media (USB drives, CDs, etc.), or as email attachments. A virus is essentially a program that executes when you launch or run it in some way.
Employee Access
Sometimes, an employee may bring a virus or a Trojan home with them while they access their job from a public computer. Sometimes, there are files on the computer that the employee has access to that are infected.
Data Transfer
FTP servers, web servers, and modem/router servers are all types of network equipment that can be used to directly transfer data to the Internet. Viruses and worms can be transferred over this type of network easily.
User Misuse
Even the most trusted employees can bring a virus or a Trojan home with them while they access their company’s computer system. Some of these uses can include taking confidential information and putting it in the wrong hands, stealing credit card information, and deleting files on the computer system that can be restored later.
Virus Spread
Viruses and worms can spread through both physical and electronic means, including through the sending of emails, CDs, floppy disks, and USBs. Viruses and worms can also spread through networks, with the whole network able to affect other networks if the infected network has a vulnerability.
If you have a virus on your system, many other people in your network might be at risk of getting infected. One of the primary reasons for this is that a virus can replicate itself and infect other files on a local or network computer. The more the virus knows about its victim the more it will be able to spread. This is what makes the infection attempt so dangerous.”
Effects of Viruses and Worms
Viruses and worms will often cause some sort of damage to the network, either by spreading uncontrollably and causing it to become unusable, or by causing certain programs to no longer work as they should. Some viruses and worms can even be thought of as malicious software, which is software that is malicious in purpose and spreads malicious software onto the victim’s computer. Commonly, virus and worm infections are caused by an employee inadvertently bringing a virus or worm home while working on a client’s computer, through various forms of file transfer such as downloading files, opening email attachments, and downloading programs, etc.
Aside from having a negative impact on the company’s operations, viruses and worms are also harmful to the environment. They require power to run, and any extra power that they have access to will affect the network, sometimes causing it to slow down as well as occasionally blocking out basic network services. For example, a virus that blocks an employee from connecting to the corporate network will also block the company’s employees from accessing the company’s distributed network of computers, which means that they will not be able to download necessary files or software needed to perform their jobs effectively.
Viruses also contain malicious code. The most common type of malicious software is a piece of code that makes the whole point of its existence, or the core functionality of the software. This code is often put into the program to reinforce the others, or they might be combined together with each other. These kinds of software make use of the Low Integrity Technology, which makes them distinct from most other kinds of malicious software.
Fast Replication
Viruses usually spread by attaching themselves to other files on a local or network computer. The more it knows about its victim, the more effective it can be at spreading itself.
What makes a computer virus so dangerous is that it can replicate itself and infect other files on a local or network computer. The more the virus knows about its victim the more it will be able to spread. This information is useful if you are using a laptop at the airport or in a coffee shop where others may try and access your data, or if you have those annoying telemarketers calling up at dinnertime.
Altering the Registry
Another common type of malicious software program is one that accesses the user’s registry. The registry is a database that stores programs and settings for every installed program on the user’s computer. The registry can be accessed through certain keys found in the user’s operating system software. Though making changes to the registry is not normally harmful, some malicious software designs exploit these changes made by the registry to actually harm the user’s computer.
Altering the registry also allows unauthorized users to control some of the basic system functions. For example, when the user opens a document in a word processing program, the user may give permission to another user to execute malicious code on the local computer.
Disabling the Win32 Application Support Service
There are two services available to process requests from the Win32 Application Support Service (WASS), which are remote access and networking. The networking service is intended for remote access, while the remote access service is designed for connecting to a computer from a remote location. For security reasons, both services are carefully monitored and tested by the Win32 Development Team.
The Win32 Application Support Service monitors several different computers within the company and will block the connection attempts to the respective computers if they are infected.
Detecting and Removing Spyware
The majority of applications that are downloaded and installed on a computer are legitimate but you can also be infected by spyware. However, there are rogue applications that are dangerous enough to affect the computer’s system. The rogue applications are capable of attaching themselves to other computer applications, which in turn the collects information about the computer user and passes it on to the third party.
Conclusion
There are many different types of internal threats that can impact your network. Keep your business safe by knowing the risks, taking steps to mitigate them, and being aware of when an attack is occurring.
