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 MALWARE

Malware which is derived from the term “malicious software,” is mainly an application being developed by Hackers or cyber crime related criminals, just to steal important (sometimes private) information or to malfunction and infect the computer software and hardware systems to gain access to private data.

Malware attacks are usually in form of email attachments so when user downloads the file it quickly spreads though the entire system, in form of file sharing software via removable media so when user plugs the media it automatically spreads into the system. Other attacks includes through Peer to Peer (P2P) file sharing, through file servers etc.

TYPES OF MALWARE

There are various different types of malicious softwares out of which, most popular are defined below:

• Virus: Most commonly used malicious software is a Virus which is designed to spread within the system through documents or files downloaded from internet. It disable user's ability to operate their system.
• Worms: Worms are softwares that after entering into a system multiplies itself rapidly with faster growth rate and affects the operations of device and and may cause data loss as well. 
• Trojan viruses: Trojan Horse or Trojan Viruses are disguised as helpful software programs. But once the user downloads it, the Trojan virus can gain access to sensitive data and then modify, block, or delete the data. 
• Adware: Adware simply puts lots of unwanted advertisements into your computer system and unlike viruses and worms, they are not harmless to the system, however it greatly affects the efficiency and effectiveness of systems. 
• Ransomware: Just like ransom, this kind of malicious software usually demands money in exchange for releasing data once it attacks computer system through encrypting important information. 
• Spyware: Spyware is a kind of infectious software that reports back to its remote user on continuous basis regarding the sensitive financial or personal information that it can fetch from the system. One commonly used type of spyware is often known as keylogger, which take a log of your keystrokes to reveal passwords and personal information. 
• Botnets: Botnets which are also called “robot network,” referred to as a network of private computers infected with malicious software and controlled as a group without the owners' knowledge.
  

In case you computer system show any kind of symptoms explained above, the first precaution you need to take immediately is to install robust anti-virus software that can immediately run though your device and find these malicious softwares. Nowadays, various security measures are available in the market to reduce or eliminate the harmful effects caused by these Malicious softwares. Most commonly used are detection and protection tools like firewalls as well as tools like anti-virus softwares and off the solutions which stops any running malware from continuing to perform malicious activity on the endpoint.

To put it in a nut shell, there should be a protection strategy in place so that you can apply appropriate measure on timely basis to protect your system from such malware attacks.

References:

Services, P. and (AMP), A., 2022. What is Malware? - Definition and Examples. [online] Cisco. Available at: <https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/security/advanced-malware-protection/what-is-malware.html#~7-types-of-malware> [Accessed 19 May 2022].

Networks, P., 2022. Malware | What is Malware & How to Stay Protected from Malware Attacks. [online] Palo Alto Networks. Available at: <https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cyberpedia/what-is-malware> [Accessed 19 May 2022].