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What is malware? |
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Malware is the term used to describe a range of computer programs designed to do harm. We sometimes use the term “virus” to cover all malware even though this is technically incorrect. Infected computers often run slowly but several types of malware can quietly run without affecting performance. There are different types of malware such as viruses, downloaders, worms, spyware, adware, rootkits, bots etc. Each type behaves differently from the others, for more technical details see this Wikipedia article.
Why do people create malware? The first viruses were written by bored geeks for fun. These early viruses slowed down computers and caused data loss but the programmers got nothing out of it except for bragging rights among other geeks. Once the Internet became popular, criminals discovered that they could make money by infecting your computer. The following are some of the common ways they profit from your misery: |
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