Cyber Weapons
Name
Institution
Cyber Weapons
The malware discussed in this study is the Trojan horse, which is a type of virus. This virus targeted George Brown College’s (GBC) email system. The Trojan horse is normally disguised as genuine software. In this regard, hackers utilize some form of social engineering to attack the victim’s PC. For instance, users can be tricked to execute an email attachment masqueraded to look unsuspicious (e.g., a regular form that is to be filled in) or click on some counterfeit advert social media or anywhere else. Once the virus is activated, Trojans make it possible for cyber-criminals to spy on the victim, steal their confidential data, and gain backdoor access to their system (Shelly & Vermaat, 2018).
The Trojan horse had several effects on the affected system. For example, it made the email system in the center for community services and health sciences at the college unavailable for personnel, faculty and administrators. According to the director of ITS infrastructure and operations, the databases responsible for the email started to “grow out of control” (Botto, 2018). Not many computers were infected over that period as only those in the community services and health sciences faculty were affected. This is attributable to the fact that the viruses were discovered on time and effectively quarantined and eliminated by the college’s anti-virus protection before they caused further damage. The author of the malware was never discovered. According to the college, the occurrence remains a mystery to them.
References
Botto, L. (2018, February 12). GBC systems hit with Trojan horse attack. Retrieved from https://dialognews.ca/2018/02/12/gbc-systems-hit-trojan-horse-attack/
Gaudion, Amy. “Book Review: This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race (2020) by Nicole Perlroth.” (2022).
Shelly, G., & Vermaat, M. (2018). Discovering computers: Fundamentals. Cengage Learning.
