What is Malware and How Does it Affect Your Computer?
Malware, short for malicious software, is any type of program or code that a cybercriminal uses to gain access to a device and exploit vulnerabilities. Malware threats target desktop computers, laptops, tablets and even connected smart home devices.
Hackers and cybercriminals use different techniques to get malware into a system or device, including phishing attacks, infected files, system and software vulnerabilities, infected USB flash drives and more. Once a device is infected, the malware takes over and begins working toward the hacker’s goals, such as stealing account credentials, collecting personal information, gaining access to computing resources or extorting payment from victims.
Examples of malware include Trojan horses, computer worms, viruses and logic bombs. Logic bombs are concealed in programs and can be triggered by a specific action or released at a predetermined time to cause a system crash or destroy data. Worms spread throughout a network, replicating themselves and consuming system resources. Viruses infect files and often change security settings or steal information.
Newer strains of malware employ evasion and obfuscation techniques to hide from users, security administrators and antimalware tools. For example, polymorphic malware changes its underlying code to evade signature-based detection tools, and fileless malware resides only in memory to avoid being detected. Also, sandboxing and anti-sandboxing techniques enable malware to detect when it’s being analyzed in a security tool and to delay execution until after the tool exits.