QandAs: Tech

What Is Malware?

Answer:
Malware is short for malicious software. This

term includes viruses and spyware which are designed to steal information, send Spam, and commit fraud. Criminals attempt to get you to click the links that install this software by creating flashy websites, desirable sounding downloads, and stories which trick you into clicking links which will download the malware.

One of the biggest threats to computer users on the Internet is malware. This type of software can hijack your Web browser, redirect your search attempts, bring up pop up ads, track the web sites you frequent, and mess up how your computer operates. Quite of few of the malware programs that are out in the wild today will reinstall themselves even after you have attempted to remove it, which makes them very difficult to remove. There are several different ways for a computer to get infected by malware. Quite often, it is bundled as a part of other programs, commonly with file sharing programs. Some also serve up pop up ads, sending revenue for the ads to the writers of the malware software. Other sources include websites, where they will pretend to be software needed in order to view the content of the website. There are several search engine variants, such as CoolWebSearch, which require the user to install the program. It is a lot easier to get infected with malware than it is to get rid of the unwanted software.

Most antivirus software will not protect your system from malware. Antivirus companies are only just now beginning to pay attention to this phenomenon. The few antivirus programs which do attempt to protect your system from malware do not do a very good job of it. It is generally best to have a dedicated malware remover.

There are several broad categories describing the various types of malware: adware, spyware, hijackers, toolbars, and dialers. Most malware will fit into multiple categories.

Adware is a type of malicious software which will place advertisements on your screen. This can take the form of pop ups, pop unders, advertisements that are embedded in programs, advertisements placed on top of ads in websites, or any other way they can try to display an ad for you. Pop up blockers will usually not stop the ads, and may do not depend on your Web browser being open. They will pop up randomly no matter what you are doing.

Spyware software will send information about you and your computer to someone else without your knowledge. Some spyware will simply send the addresses of sites you visit or terms that you search for to a server on the Internet. Others will send all information that you type into Web-based forms or the names of files that you download. The more malicious ones will search your hard drive and send out what programs you have installed, the contents of your email client address book to sell to spammers, and any other information about your computer, including your name, browser history, login names, passwords, credit card numbers, phone numbers, and home address. Spyware often work in conjunction with toolbar software, always running in the background.

Toolbars are plug ins for Internet Explorer that provide additional functionality. The Google and Yahoo toolbars are not malware, but some malware manufacturers have tried to emulate their functionality in order to attempt to trick users into installing their toolbar.

Dialers are a type of malware which will set up a dialer on your modem connection in order to cause your machine to dial a 1-900 number. This will create a lot of revenue for the owner of the 1-900 number, and you will have a huge phone bill.

If you suspect that your machine is infected with malware, stop all sensitive Internet browsing and banking until you have gotten the machine cleaned of the infection.