What Is Malware and How Does It Affect My Computer?
Malware refers to any form of software that is designed to gain unauthorized access to systems, execute coding and/or damage hardware or applications. Often, hackers use malware to steal sensitive data, capture keystrokes or use the computing power of compromised machines to mine cryptocurrencies.
Generally, there are a few different kinds of Malware. A virus is malicious code that infects other programs on a computer, typically spreading by infecting other files, and worms are malware that can spread to other machines without human interaction through email attachments, instant messages and other methods. Spyware, which hides in the background and takes notes of what you do online, is also considered to be a type of Malware.
Some of the symptoms of malware infection include a sudden loss of disk space, unexplained increases in internet activity that do not correlate to your behavior and frequent device or program crashes. More sophisticated malware may be able to disable security features that are meant to prevent the infection of a machine.
In addition to viruses, worms and spyware, malware can include a host of other types such as Trojans (which disguise themselves as useful programs), remote access tools (RAT) and droppers that install more malware after they’ve gained a foothold on a device. Lastly, the growing number of connected devices called IoT and other ‘Internet of Things’ equipment opens up new attack surfaces for malware to exploit. Ransomware, which encrypts files on an infected device and then demands a ransom payment to unlock them, is also a common form of malware.