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FIELD MANUAL
Threat Intelligence

Know Your Enemy: The Malware Field Guide

Field Guide · 6 Chapters · Know Your Enemy

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Franklin Green's machine was compromised for 47 days before anyone noticed. Not because the attackers were brilliant — because nobody knew what to look for. The malware sat quietly, logged keystrokes, and sent everything home every night at 3 AM.

Malware is not one thing. It's a category. Calling something "a virus" is like calling something "a crime." There are dozens of distinct types, each with different goals, different behaviors, and different methods of infection. Knowing the difference isn't trivia — it's how you recognize an attack, contain it, and stop it from happening again.

This manual covers every major malware category: the classics that have been around for decades and the modern variants that are making headlines and billions of dollars for their operators.

6 chapters. Every type explained. No jargon you can't Google.

— Commander Shepard

Types of Malware