What is Malware and How Does it Affect Your Computer?
Malware is software designed to infiltrate and damage a computer system, network or device. Criminals use malware to steal or disrupt services and steal sensitive information, including passwords, financial data and intellectual property. These stolen resources can be used to send spam emails, operate botnets or mine cryptocurrency. The results of a successful malware attack can be devastating.
The term “Malware” was coined by cybersecurity analyst Yisrael Radai in 1990 to describe the first viruses designed to corrupt systems. The earliest malware attacks were based on macro code, which was hidden in programs such as Microsoft Word and spread by the thousands of computers running Windows at that time. By the late 1990s, hackers had begun using worms to replicate themselves on a network, as well as Trojan horses that disguise themselves as harmless programs and then cause damage. Other types of malware include logic bombs that can be triggered at a predetermined time to crash systems or wipe hard drives and ransomware that encrypts files and demands payment from victims.
Hackers use malware to infiltrate a system through phishing emails, malicious attachments and compromised websites that offer software downloads. They also hijack messaging apps to send infected links and attachments to contacts or place infected ads on popular websites—a practice known as malvertising. Hackers have also developed fileless malware that does not require a user to download anything and can take advantage of compromised Internet of Things (IoT) devices running Linux.