According to CNN Money, there are almost 1 million new malware threats being released daily. If that news isn’t bad enough, they also report that malware is becoming increasingly more creative and hard to detect, even for top enterprise companies. Malware is an abbreviated term meaning “malicious software.†Malware is software that is specifically designed to gain access or damage a computer without the knowledge of the owner. It is also designed to be used to compromise computer functions, steal data, bypass access controls, or otherwise cause harm to the host computer. There are a variety of malware such as: adware, bots, bugs, spyware, Trojan horses, viruses, and worms.
- Adware (short for advertising-supported software) is a type of malware that automatically delivers advertisements. Common examples of adware include pop-up ads on websites and advertisements that are displayed by software. In addition, it is not uncommon for adware to come bundled with spyware (see below) that is capable of tracking user activity and stealing information.
- Bots are software programs created to automatically perform specific operations. While some bots are created for relatively harmless purposes (video gaming, internet auctions, online contests, etc), it is becoming increasingly common to see bots being used maliciously. For example, bots can create an army of infected computers (known as ‘zombies’) that are remotely controlled by the originator. These bots can send spam emails with viruses attached, spread all types of malware, or they can use your computer as part of a denial of service attack against other systems.
- A bug is a flaw that produces an undesired outcome. Security bugs are the most severe type of bugs and can allow attackers to bypass user authentication, override access privileges, or steal data.
- Spyware is generally software that performs actions on your computer with or without approval and many times without you even knowing. These spying capabilities can include activity monitoring, collecting keystrokes, data harvesting (account information, logins, financial data), and more.
- Trojans are destructive programs that look legit but attack systems as soon as they are opened and executed. Attacks can include pop up windows, or worse, they can allow unauthorized system access for hackers through back doors.
- A virus is a form of malware that is capable of copying itself and spreading to other computers. Viruses often spread to other computers by attaching themselves to various programs and executing code when a user launches one of those infected programs.
- Computer worms are among the most common types of malware. Worms typically cause harm to their host networks by consuming bandwidth and overloading web servers.