Malicious Mobile Code

Summary

Worms and Trojans present a serious threat to network infrastructures, and must be addressed accordingly. There are many types of worms and Trojans, with the most threatening class being remote access Trojans. Detecting a Trojan or worm means identifying changes in the system’s startup areas and new, unknown files. Users can significantly protect themselves by not running untrusted executable code or active content. The next chapter discusses a relatively new way -- instant messaging -- to distribute malicious mobile code.