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http://hass-and-associates-cyber-security.blogspot.com/2013/02/malware.html Malware is a malicious software made to collect sensitive data, access secured systems or disrupt operations. It is a collective term for spyware, adware, worms, virus, trojan horses and any intrusive, hostile or nuisance programs. This malicious program would normally be disguised as or comes along with legit software. It is not uncommon for safe programs to be bundled with malware so that a user will unknowingly install it into a system. The basic characteristics of a malware is that it must be hidden and run without being seen or deleted. Any program with malicious code that can trick users into installing and running it is considered a malware. Trojan horses are commonly known in their disguise as something beneficial or normal so users unwittingly install them. They are commonly bundled with legit software that can be downloaded online and users install them not knowing that a harmful program is being installed at the same time. Classified as a malware, virus is a software that will replicate and spread among all other executable files in a system. It should not be confused with the worm because the latter is capable of automatically transferring itself across the network in order to infect other systems. Rootkits usually act through altering the registry of the operating system itself in order to stay hidden and keep the other malware processes from being displayed in the process list. They also secure malware files by locking them (so it won't be deleted) or foiling attempts to kill the malicious processes by replicating them quickly. Backdoors work through bypassing the usual authentication system and gain remote access to it while keeping under the radar. And once a system is penetrated, other backdoors could be installed for easier access. More Info: http://www.yelp.com/biz/hass-and-associates-cyber-security-alcobendas

In late 2011 and early 2012, activists, progressive politicians and Internet companies led in part by Internet freedom advocate Aaron Swartz came together to defeat the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA). Advertised as measures against copyright infringement, the bills would have opened any website that contained copyrighted material it was not authorized to publish on any of its pages to a forced shutdown. A site that unknowingly held a copyrighted image in a comment section, for instance, would have been eligible as a violator. Virtually everyone was susceptible to closure. The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) followed SOPA and PIPA in April 2012. CISPA was worse than its predecessors, proposing that private companies be allowed to share user information, a provision that would have violated many privacy protections of the Internet. Recognizing this, Swartz fought again. "It sort of lets the government run roughshod over privacy protections and share personal data about you," he said of the bill at the time. Again, he prevailed. Now, a year and a half after Swartz killed himself, there is the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act. CISA is a lot like CISPA, but could end up being even worse. Privacy and civil rights groups including the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are standing up to fight it. In an article about the bill, the ACLU's Sandra Fulton wrote: CISA "poses serious threats to our privacy, gives the government extraordinary powers to silence potential whistleblowers, and exempts these dangerous new powers from transparency laws."