We all hear so much about malware but do we know what it all means. Here is a simple guide to explain it all.
Malware:

Malware is short for malicious software and is typically used as a catch-all term to refer to any software designed to cause damage to a single computer, server, or computer network, whether it’s a virus, spyware, or anything else. So now I’ll break down the various categories and explain the differences.

Virus:

Viruses are computer programs or scripts that attempt to spread from one file to another on a single computer and/or from one computer to another, using a variety of methods, without the knowledge and consent of the computer user. Many users define viruses simply as trick programs designed to delete or move hard drive data, which, strictly speaking, is not correct. From a technical viewpoint, what makes a virus a virus is that it spreads itself. The damage it does is often incidental when making a diagnosis. A worm is a specific type of virus that propagates itself across many computers, usually by creating copies of itself in each computer’s memory. Viruses used to be the main type of threat computer users saw. Now however there are many more types of computer threat.

The most common method used for spreading a virus is through e-mail attachment. Sending a virus, even if designed to be harmless, can cause unforeseen damage.

A virus scanner is the most common tool for prevention. This tool attempts to scan a computer program before it runs, and if it recognizes the signature of a malicious code, it shuts it down. Many scanners also evaluate programs to determine if it contains any virus-related characteristics.

 

In the next part I’ll look at trojans.