The paper provides an overview of the field of malware, including a brief history, characteristics, modern trends, and key techniques used. Different types of malicious software are classified based on their purpose, functionality, persistence mechanisms, and propagation methods. The analysis examines how these categories map to the MITRE ATT&CK framework which is commonly used for analyzing adversarial tactics and techniques. The paper highlights popular types of malware, including ransomware, spyware, fileless malware, rootkits, botnets, viruses, worms, backdoors, and Trojan horses. It also covers key attack vectors, such as supply chain attacks, phishing, abuse of app stores, and social engineering, while explaining advanced evasion techniques, including obfuscation, anti-debugging techniques, and the use of droppers. A case study analysis presents three distinct examples of malware in detail: the WannaCry crypto worm, mobile malware from the CherryBlos family, used for the cryptocurrency theft, and a recent attempt to compromise the Linux operating system supply chain.
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