Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Chapter 2 Information Security Fundamentals 43 actually provided the decryption key. Not all hackers follow through after receiv- ing payment. Polymorphic If you ever watched the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers cartoon, you will remember how the characters changed or morphed from humans into rangers. Polymorphic viruses work in the same manner. A polymorphic virus changes its characteristics in attempts to avoid detection from antivirus programs. Rootkit A rootkit is a virus that infects a computer before the operating system loads. This makes it diffi cult to remove. The computer must be booted with a repair and recovery disk or fl ash drive. Rootkits often deliver serious payloads. This may include the ability to remotely access a computer without needing or knowing the credentials on the system. The term rootkit comes from the words root and kit. Root is the term for administrator in Linux/Unix systems. Kit refers to the malicious programs within the virus. Backdoor A backdoor is a secret or unknown access point into a system. This is not always a virus it could be a user you are not aware of that has administrative privileges. It can take the form of a hidden program, embedded in the fi rmware of a computer, or an account can be hardcoded in an operating system or program. A popular movie reference to the use of backdoors was in the 1983 movie War Games starring Matthew Broderick. Broderick played a teenage hacker who stumbled across a system he thought was from a game developer. He found a backdoor and used it to access some games, one of which was a war-game simula- tion. In trying to play the game, he nearly started World War III. Macro Virus Macros are little scripts users often create to perform repetitive tasks. In Microsoft Offi ce programs, macros are created using the programming language Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). These “mini programs” can be inserted into fi les created with Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Access. A macro virus is a macro that has been programmed to carry out a malicious intent. Quick Look 2.2.1 Macro Programming Creating a macro in Microsoft Offi ce is very easy. Microsoft Word has a record function that stores the actions of the user. When the macro is used, those actions are replicated. 1. Launch Microsoft Word, and begin a new, blank document. 2. Click the View tab on the ribbon, and locate the Macros button. Click the arrow below the button to display a drop-down menu, and click Record Macro… in the menu. The Record Macro dialog box is displayed. Here is where you name the macro before recording it. 3. Click in the Macro name: text box, and enter your name. Spaces are not allowed in the macro name, so leave them out when entering your name. Macros