What is malware?

More and more networks and systems are falling victim to malware. So what is malware? Find out in this article what malware is and what you can do to limit the negative impact.

 Malware and its function

Malware is any malicious program that causes damage to a computer system or network; learn more with the full article. It is a term referring to any type of software whose mission is to damage or exploit any programmable network or device.

They attack a computer or network in the form of viruses, Trojans, worms, adware, spyware or rootkits. Their mission is often to perform illegal tasks such as stealing protected data, deleting confidential documents or adding software without the user's consent.

These programs trick their target by stealing, for example, credit card data or other financial data. The malware also takes control of different computers in order to launch denial-of-service attacks to harm other networks.

 Different types of malware

There are different types of malware. One is the computer virus, which is self-replicating malware that attaches itself to other files or programs. It has the ability to run secretly when the host program or file is activated.

The different categories of computer viruses are memory resident virus, file or program virus, stealth virus, email virus and macro virus. Another type of virus encountered is the worm. This is a category of malware that spreads over a network and is capable of launching a destructive and heavy attack in a short time.

The third category is Trojans, which are non-replicating programs that appear legitimate. After gaining the user's trust, it secretly carries out its malicious and illicit activities. They are often used to steal a user's passwords or to destroy data or programs on the hard disk. It is often difficult to detect

Malware is a real threat in the IT world. Therefore, knowledge of malware and how it operates can help protect against possible attacks.