What is Malware ?

What is malware ?
Friends..!! Everyone knows that a virus can harm your system. Whenever a system start working improperly it is called as system is infected by virus. True but not always….

Actually we can say that system is infected by Malware and this will be perfect. How..?
Ok.. The fact is virus is not only one reason which is responsible for all improper working of system or devices but there are many more other things which could be responsible for different behavior of system. Malware is a term which is used for Malicious + Software

Some specific terms with their explanations are  here :

Virus:-A virus is a self replicating program that attaches itself to an executable file. When  the file is executed the virus automatically gets executed and enters into system memory .Once it enters into system memory it either searches for other files that can be infected or stays in the background and infect the files that are uses the virus infected program.

Worms: Worms are very similar to viruses but differ in way that they do not bind themselves to executable files instead  to replicate themselves they uses the network. If you find excessive use of your network bandwidth then you may be infected by a worm. So, a worm do not require a user to execute any file for its execution it can work without user intervention.

Trojan Horse:- A Trojan horse is harmful program which may seem harmless to the user before its installation but instead it is programmed or reverse engineered to  facilitate unauthorized remote access to the computer. Trojan’s do not replicate themselves.

Spyware:-A spyware is a program that secretly monitors and collects pieces of information. They usually run in stealth mode and cannot be detected easily. Keyloggers is a great example of spyware software. There are not limited to just spying but can also send data to remote computers.

Adware:- A adware, or advertising-supported software, is any software package which automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertisements to a computer.

Root kit:- A root kit is a stealthy type of malware designed to hide the existence of certain processes or programs from normal methods of detection and enables continued access to a computer.


Malwares:- At last malware is a general term for any type of malicious software i.e. all the above specific terms can be called as malware. Mal (malicious) + Ware (software)