A Brief Explanation Of Malware (£)
Malware means malicious software and is software used for mischievous intentions to interrupt a computer’s processes, to collect confidential information and or, to enable access to private electronic systems.
Malware is a broad expression that has been used to describe hostile or intrusive software, including computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and other damaging programs. It can take the form of executable code, scripts, active content, and other software. Malware is often disguised as, or embedded in, non-malicious files.
Malware may be used to steal information or intelligence theft by spying on computer users for an extended period without their knowledge. A well-known example of this is Stuxnet, which was probably created by the Israelis and US to attack Iranian systems, or another version could be used to extract payment and another is CryptoLocker, which is Trojan software that has been used criminally.
Malware is sometimes found embedded in official corporate programs that is downloadable from websites. An example of such software is the Sony rootkit, a Trojan embedded into CDs sold by Sony, which silently installed and concealed itself on purchasers' computers with the intention of preventing illicit copying.
Software such as anti-virus, anti-malware, and firewalls are used to protect against activity identified as malicious, and to recover from attacks and these should be part of your on-going systems checking procedure to ensure they are continually monitored and kept up-to-date.
The first Internet malware was a computer worm, which was hidden and was self-replicating, and was created by Robert Morris at Cornell University when he was a student – he claimed that it was a non-criminal project that aimed to understand and measure the size of the Net. However it infected around ten percent of all computer machines then connected to the Internet – about 6,000 of the 60,000 and caused over $12m of damage. He was convicted the fraud and abuse Act of 1986 and later became a Professor at MIT.
