also in the picture, this catch-all term provides a useful means of describing the full
spectrum of damaging software programs that operate without the user’s express consent:  Classic viruses, Internet worms, Trojan horses, spyware, adware, keyloggers, hijackers, toolbars and dialers all fall into this broad and ever-expanding category


Malware programs generally do undesirable things to your computer.  Although some are fairly benign or merely annoying, others are intentionally destructive. For example, they might delete all the data on your hard drive or email your friends with sensitive files picked at random from your PC.  Malware can hijack your browser, serve up irritating and offensive pop-up ads, redirect your searches and invade your privacy by tracking the websites you visit.  What’s more, many of these programs will make your PCs sluggish and unreliable on top of the other damage they cause. 


In short, malware means trouble!
Unlike biological viruses, computer viruses do not simply evolve by themselves. They are deliberately created by computer programmers as research projects, pranks, straightforward vandalism, to attack the products of specific companies, distribute political messages or achieve financial gain from identity theft or spyware. Some virus writers consider their creations to be works of art and see virus writing as a creative hobby, although the release of computer viruses and worms is a crime in most jurisdictions.


Several thousand computer viruses are known to exist, with an average of three to five new strains discovered every day!  Even so, as the Internet continues to grow in popularity, these classic viruses are increasingly outnumbered by network-borne worms that are self-contained and do not need to attach themselves to other programs in order to propagate. While classic viruses were traditionally spread via floppy disks and other removable media, they too have started to take advantage of network services such as the World Wide Web, Email, Instant Messaging and online file sharing systems, thereby blurring their distinction from worms.


Counter technology is moving fast to keep up with the ever-evolving threats posed by modern malware, with sophisticated anti-virus solutions considered essential for all computers connected to the Internet.

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