Saposhi Malware

New Threat on the rise

Recently, security researchers have reported the emergence of a new malicious cyber-threat called Saposhi which is a DDoS type of malware. You might have already hear about the Reaper and the Mirai viruses – those two malware programs were a common cyber-security issue in 2016 and 2017 respectively. The common thing between the two viruses is that they were used for establishing a botnet of infected devices and using the botnet for conducting DDoS attacks. A DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack is an illegal large-scale cyber campaign where a big number of devices are used to create traffic to a certain server. If the number of devices involved is big enough, the overwhelming traffic would be more than what the targeted server is capable of handling. In such a case, the server would get overburdened which would lead to crashes. After a successful DDoS attack, the customers of the service that had its servers targeted would not be able to use/access the said service due to the server crash triggered by the DDoS attacks.

Saposhi Malware

Now that we have briefly explained what a DDoS attack is, let’s say something more about the recently detected Saposhi malware. Similarly to Mirai and Reaper, this virus seeks to infect devices and make them part of its botnet. A botnet is a network comprised of devices infected by the virus and used for a singular purpose (such as the conducting of DDoS attacks). Although currently there isn’t too much information available with regards to Saposhi, the virus is said to be a highly advanced malware threat capable of silently taking over an infected device and forcing it to carry out tasks without the user’s permission. The virus has first been detected about two weeks ago and so far there hasn’t been an official alert regarding it due to the lack of sufficient data about the virus. Still, it is expected that within the next few days CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) will issue guidelines on how to keep one’s devices protected against the newly-emerged malware threat. Here, we can give you some general tips on what you can do in order to keep your system safe against most forms of PC viruses, including Saposhi.

First, make sure that you never visit sites with bad reputation or ones that are likely to be illegal. Secondly, keep away from any form of spam messages. Also, do not interact with suspicious ads you see on the Internet and remember to only download software that is legal and legally distributed. Having a good antivirus program is another important aspect of keeping your PC secure so don’t forget about it.

 


About the author

Brandon Skies

Brandon is a researcher and content creator in the fields of cyber-security and virtual privacy. Years of experience enable him to provide readers with important information and adequate solutions for the latest software and malware problems.

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