ITPEC FE Morning October 2018 Question 40
Which of the following is a description of spyware?
Explanation
A program installed against the user's intention that collects personal information and access history — spyware spies on the user and sends the data out.
Spyware usually arrives bundled with free software or through a malicious download, runs without the user's knowledge, and gathers personal data, browsing history or keystrokes to send to a third party.
Answer (c)
Why not others:
- •(a) — trying every word in a dictionary against a server's login is a dictionary attack
- •(b) — rewriting HTML tags, JavaScript and SQL in form input into harmless strings is sanitizing (escaping), a defence against XSS and SQL injection
- •(d) — probing a server's TCP ports one after another to find an open, vulnerable one is port scanning
Key rule: Name malware by what it does: spyware collects information covertly, ransomware extorts, a worm spreads itself, and a Trojan hides inside something harmless.
Security · AI-written, may contain errors
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