What is malware?
Malware or malicious software is a general term used by computer professionals to mean all forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code. One characteristic of malware is that it is installed on a users computer without his/her explicit knowledge, and is often hard to delete and uninstall. Simply put, malware is unwanted software including viruses, worms, Trojan Horses, rootkits, bots, keyloggers etc.
Malware is malicious software designed to disrupt, harm, infiltrate, or damage computers, servers, or networks. Malware includes a wide range of nasty programs including viruses, worms, Trojans, phishing scams, and unauthorized spyware. Malware can enable identify theft, damage computer files, bog down network performance, display annoying adware, and worse. Once you finally realize you’ve been infected or compromised, your company loses valuable time and productivity trying to locate and uninstall it and deal with the damage the malware has caused.
Malware (malicious software) is software that is surreptitiously installed on a private computer’s hard drive that is designed to harm or take unauthorized control over a computer system or to steal the data it contains. Malware is often distributed as an attachment to spam and phishing e-mails. When a customer reads the e-mail, they unknowingly install the malware on their computer. Numerous terms are used for different types of malware, usually based upon how they spread and what they are intended to do. Computer viruses, Trojans, and worms can all be used to install malware on a vulnerable computer. Monikers such as spyware, adware, key loggers, and back doors refer to the goal of the malware. Some malware attacks attempt to capture the actual keystrokes entered by an individual on their computer’s keyboard. Your institution may employ sophisticated protections against malware — such as powerful anti-virus programs and firewalls — but often customers’ personal computers are not as
Malware is an abbreviated term used to describe a “malicious software” program. Malware includes things like spyware or adware programs, such as tracking cookies, which are used to monitor your surfing habits. It also includes more sinister items, such as keyloggers, Trojan horses, worms, and viruses. A keylogger is just what it sounds like. It is a program that logs every keystroke you make and then sends that information, including things like passwords, bank account numbers, and credit card numbers, to whomever is spying on you. A Trojan horse may damage your system, and it may also install a “backdoor” through which to send your personal information to another computer. These forms of malware are commonly used for perpetrating identity theft. A virus or a worm replicates itself and may hijack your system. These types of malware may then be used to send out spam or to accomplish a variety of other unsavory activities, and you may not even know it. Viruses usually attach to other pro
Malware can be loosely defined as a malicious computer executable. The definition requires some flexibility because the term can describe a wide variety of different types of unwanted programs. The one certainty when discussing malware is the magnitude of the problem it poses — the damage inflicted globally by malware is usually measured in billions. This overview briefly covers the history of malware, the different strains, what makes today’s computers so hospitable and what the future holds.
