Research Article
Evaluating Grayware Characteristics and Risks
Table 4
Installation mechanisms employed by grayware species.
| ID | Channel | Description | Sample patterns |
| 1 | Bundle with software | Independent utilities distributed with other software | Bundled with | 2 | Components of software | Implemented as components of other legitimate software | Component of, as part of | 3 | Drive-by download | Visit web sites or download pages containing grayware | Drive by | 4 | Dropped by malware | Spread by other grayware such as downloaders | Dropped by | 5 | Vulnerability exploits | Exploits vulnerabilities such as buffer overflow | Vulnerability, loophole | 6 | Instant messengers | Install via Instant messengers (IM) such as AOL and MSN | Instant messaging | 7 | Email and attachments | Embedded in emails and attachments to trick recipients | Email | 8 | Manually installation | Directly download from web sites or through FTP services | Manually install | 9 | Peer-to-peer | Transport in P2P applications such as Gnutella and KaZaA | Peer-to-peer, p2p | 10 | Network file shares | Trusted network share folders as propagation channels | Network share |
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