Malware

What is Malware?

Malware is any file or program that is harmful to a user's computer system. The word malware originates from combining the words malicious and software. Malware can come in the form of spyware to gather information about you, worms which are programs designed to replicate themselves once on your computer, viruses, and Trojan horses such as Trojan horse dialers. Depending how the malware spreads and how it is executed will determine how the malware is

Adware: can place advertisements on your screen while you're using your computer. You can be typing a letter, playing a game, or surfing the Internet and find annoying pop-ups, pop-unders, or other forms of advertisements continually bothering you while you use your computer if it's been infected with this type of malware.

Toolbars: are designed take on the look and feel of the common toolbars such as Google and Yahoo. If your system has toolbar type malware infecting your computer, you may notice slower performance, annoying pop-up, and your search pages going to unfamiliar search engines. LopDotCom and Hotbar are examples of malware toolbars.

Dialers: if you're using a modem to connect to the Internet then you are susceptible to a Trojan Horse Dialer. What a Trojan horse dialer does is dial expense phone numbers without you knowing about it. Some of these numbers are can be porn sites or some other type of expense pay-per-minute number. This is the type of malware that seriously affects dial-up Internet users. They also keep track of your web activity and send the data to the back to their server.

Spyware: is software that takes over your computer without you knowing about. Spyware can bombard your computer with advertisements, slow down your computer, change your system settings as well gather personal information about you and send it to companies without your knowledge. This is one of the most common types of malware.

Hijackers: hijack your browsers default page and search engine's. You type in the wrong URL address for a website and suddenly you are at a search page from a search engine you've never seen before. Or every time you open your Internet Explorer your default homepage directs you to somewhere else. These are common results from Hijacker type malware.

How to protect yourself from malware. Make sure you download software from websites you are familiar with, if happen to download from an website your not familiar with then make sure you read the license agreement to see what your installing and what it is installing. Sometimes malware is included as a separate executable file that installs after the main installation.

If a pop-up appears on your monitor screen you should make it a habit to exit the pop-up by the X in the box of the upper-right hand corner of the pop-up. There are many malware's that automatically install themselves when you push any of the buttons, even the pressing the cancel button can trigger an installation.

If you suspect your computer system might be infected with malware then feel free to take a look at our expert's opinions of the top anti-spyware removal products on the market to see if any of these products can help you stop and eliminate malware from infecting your computer system.

©2003 – 2008 TopTenREVIEWS, Inc.