Purpose of Malware Attacks

The purpose of a malware attack is what the attacker is trying to achieve by it. You can identify the purpose by asking what the attacker wants to happen; four common purposes are stealing data, extorting money, damaging or disrupting an organisation, and taking control of other people's devices.

Stealing data

Data is valuable, so a common purpose is to copy it and take it away. An attacker might copy the login details for thousands of player accounts from an online game and sell them on. The buyers then take over those accounts and sell the rare items inside them. Stolen details can also be used for fraud, such as taking out a mobile phone contract in someone else's name, or for identity theft, where the attacker pretends to be that person.

Extorting money

Extortion means forcing someone to pay. Malware may lock or encrypt a victim's files and then demand a payment before they can be opened again. A cat rescue centre could find its rehoming records locked, with a message demanding money for the unlock code. Paying does not guarantee that the files will come back.

Damaging and taking control

Some attacks are carried out to cause harm rather than to make money directly. Malware might delete a basketball club's match results, or stop the tills in a café from working for a day. The club cannot check its results and the café cannot serve customers until the systems are fixed.

An attacker may want to take over devices and use them for their own ends. Hundreds of smart TVs, baby monitors and other home devices could be taken over and then used together to flood a gaming website with traffic, while the owners carry on unaware that their devices are being used. Being in control of many machines gives the attacker far more power than controlling one.