| ople are pulling their hair out because their computers | | | | short for malicious software. And that tells you |
| doesn't seem to work the way they want it to. For | | | | something about the behavior of malware. You can |
| some reason, their PCs seem to have a life of their | | | | expect it to behave maliciously. Behaving maliciously |
| own. Chances are, their computer systems have | | | | means that it is going to be actively causing damage |
| already been infected with spyware or malware, | | | | to your computer system. Unlike spyware, which just |
| without realizing it. So what exactly is spyware and | | | | sits there and grab data unobtrusively, malware |
| malware, and why is it a hair pulling experience for the | | | | actually create havoc in your computer. For example, it |
| user? | | | | may erase important registry files, or attempts to |
| Spyware is a type of application that is installed into | | | | format your harddisk, etc. The damage is sometimes |
| the computer system without the user's knowledge. It | | | | irreparable, and it can amount of a lot of money if |
| is meant to operate secretly, because the primary | | | | important data is lost. |
| function of spyware is to obtain information from your | | | | So how to prevent spyware and malware from |
| computer without your permission. That is tantamount | | | | inflicting damage on the system? |
| to stealing. For example, you could have spyware in | | | | There are many ways to do this. As the end user, it's |
| your computer sending private and confidential | | | | always wise to install some kind of firewall for |
| information about your internet surfing activities, your | | | | protection. Windows already come with its own |
| online banking passwords, credit card numbers. Usually, | | | | firewall, but it has limited features. You can try |
| they don't impede the use of a computer, but can | | | | something more feature rich like McAfee or Norton. |
| result in your computer slowing down if heavily | | | | Usually, such security software also comes with |
| infected. But when passwords, email accounts and | | | | resident shield and anti virus software. Resident shield |
| other information get stolen, including your personal | | | | helps to prevent malware or spyware from being |
| data that is when the hair pulling starts. | | | | installed in the first place. If you attempt to install a |
| Malware, similar to spyware, is also usually installed in | | | | suspicious piece of software, the shield will warn you. |
| the computer system without the user's permission. | | | | But in the event that a piece of malware still managed |
| How can this happen? Malware can embed itself in an | | | | to get installed in the computer, then anti virus is |
| innocent looking application (e.g. a game), and the | | | | needed to scan and clean the computer. |
| unsuspecting user installs the game into the computer. | | | | Ultimately, it comes down to the end user. If you |
| All the while, the user thinks that it is the game that is | | | | choose to ignore warnings from the security software, |
| installed, when in reality, it is the game AND the | | | | you can still find yourself with a spyware or malware |
| malware that is installed. So what can malware do to | | | | infested PC. So keep yourself updated with the latest |
| the computer? | | | | computer security news, and be a smart computer |
| The term malware, actually comes from two words - | | | | user. |
| malicious, and software. In other words, malware is | | | | |