Erbium

Why in the News?

A new malware called Erbium has been wreaking havoc on the internet for the last few months. 

Key Points:

About

Erbium

• Erbium is a Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS), which means anyone with enough money can get their hands on it.

• It is often injected into game cracks and pirated software.

• It focuses on retrieving user data stored in web browsers based on Chromium and Gecko like Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Mozilla Firefox. 
• The malware steals information like passwords, cookies, autofill information and credit cards. 

What is Malware?

• Malware is the collective name for a number of malicious software variants, including viruses, ransomware and spyware.
• It typically consists of code developed by cyberattackers, designed to cause extensive damage to data and systems or to gain unauthorized access to a network. 
• It is delivered in the form of a link or file over email and requires the user to click on the link or open the file to execute the malware.

Types of Malware:

• Virus

• • • A virus is malicious software attached to a document or file.
    • Once downloaded, the virus will lay dormant until the file is opened and in use. 
    • It can cause significant operational issues and data loss.

• Worms

• • • These are malicious software that rapidly replicates and spreads to any device within the network.

• Trojan virus

• • • Trojan viruses are disguised as helpful software programs. 
    • Once the user downloads it, the Trojan virus can gain access to sensitive data and then modify, block, or delete the data. 

• Spyware

• • • Spyware is malicious software that runs secretly on a computer and reports back to a remote user.

• Ransomware

• • Ransomware is malicious software that gains access to sensitive information within a system and then demands a financial payout for the data to be released.