About this interactive
What you are doing: placing each case of problem software into its kind.
The four kinds: cryptojacking secretly uses the victim’s processor and power to mine cryptocurrency, so someone else collects the reward. Adware shows advertisements the installer is paid for, and can smuggle in other malware. Scareware uses a fake alarm — a bogus virus warning — to frighten the user into installing malicious software themselves. Bloatware is unnecessary software, often pre-installed, that fills storage and slows the machine without being deceptive.
How to use it: ask what it is after. Mining coins is cryptojacking. Paid ads is adware. A scary fake warning is scareware. Dead weight that just slows things is bloatware.
What you'll learn
- Sort a case of unwanted software into the kind it is: cryptojacking, adware, scareware, or bloatware
- Tell these apart by what they do — mine coins without consent, show paid ads, frighten the user into installing malware, or simply pile up and slow the machine
Aligned to
CompTIA Security+
2.4
Given a scenario, analyze indicators of malicious activity.
4.1
Given a scenario, apply common security techniques to computing resources.
Key terms
- Cryptojacking
- The unauthorized use of another person's computing resources to mine cryptocurrency without their knowledge or consent.
- Adware
- Software that displays unwanted advertisements, often through pop-ups, and can serve as a delivery mechanism for other malware on a system or enterprise network.
- Scareware
- Software designed to frighten end users into taking an action, such as installing malicious software, by displaying false security warnings or deceptive alerts.
- Bloatware
- Unnecessary pre-installed or feature-bloated software that consumes excessive storage, processing power, and bandwidth, degrading overall system performance.
- Potentially Unwanted Program
PUP
- Potentially Unwanted Program is software installed without full user awareness that may degrade performance, compromise privacy, or display unwanted advertising, often bundled with legitimate installers.
Topics
Cryptojacking
Adware
Scareware
Bloatware
Interactive
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