Hackers have a number of tools at their disposal to help them achieve their ultimate goal of getting into your computer and getting valuable information out. One of these tools is a data source exploit, better known as a dso exploit. A dso exploit is a piece of software that takes advantage of a glitch or vulnerability within a given program. The glitch allows the hacker access into the computer.
An exploit can access vulnerable software in several different ways. One is remote exploit. This works over a network by exploiting the security vulnerability. No previous access to the system is required for this type of exploit. A second is a local exploit. This increases the privileges of the person running the exploit beyond those of the system administrator. This type of exploit does require prior access to the system in order to be effective.
Exploits are often described in terms of the type of vulnerability they attack. So types of exploits include cross-site request forgery, SQL injection, race condition, buffer overflow, integer overflow and memory corruption.
An exploit can do one of three things. Firstly it can allow unauthorized data access to the hacker. Secondly, it can deny service to registered users, thus rendering the system useless, thirdly it can execute code that should not have existed in their first place.
Most exploits are only good for a very specific vulnerability. That is they can be used on for a particular glitch in a particular program. Once a programmer finds out about the exploit the program is fixed in the next edition and the exploit is no longer useful to the hacker. One would suppose that this would cause hackers to be very secretive about their exploits and where they find glitches in programs. Some are, but many take pride in publishing their exploits for all to see. Many web pages with lists of exploits, published by prideful hackers, exist on the internet.
If a programmer wishes to fix the glitch before the next edition of the software comes out, and they often do, then they issue a dso exploit patch. A dso exploit patch fixes the security breach, rendering the dso exploit ineffective. Patches for glitches can usually be downloaded from the software owners' web site.
It is very simple to remove dso exploit. Once the patch is downloaded the exploit is removed. However if you're using Spybot or other anti-spywear software it may still register an exploit even though you did in fact remove dso exploit. This is a problem with the anti-spyware software, not an indication that the exploit has returned. Once the exploit has been patched in code it cannot ever be used again. The makers of anti-spyware software are fixing this problem, and some already have, so if the user updates their anti-spyware software this may fix the false reporting problem.
One example of a well-known program with a glitch allowing for exploit was Internet Explorer. However this glitch has been fixed. As long as users have stayed up to date with Internet Explorer patches there is no longer the potentiality for exploit.