Contents 1 Malware and Maladies 1.1 Symptoms of Malware Infected PC 1.2 History of Malware 1.3 Read more

Malware and Maladies

Even though it sounds a little less obnoxious as viruses, malware are no less! In fact they are the super set of those programs that create issues in PCs or Macs. Standing for Malicious software, these self executable programs cause as much problem to the PC as to the users, and this is not it. They keep multiplying at a rate not seen organically and pose a lot of threat to the security of data exchange online as well as to the data stored on solid state media. Your best bet against them is, therefore, to stay active and alert. Do not let them get installed on your PC or you are in for trouble. For this, you can try reliable anti-malware programs that keep such programs off the limits.

Symptoms of Malware Infected PC

Right from throwing random pop ups at you, slowing down the processor, causing freezes and shut downs to most recently hijacking Google results, malware can do a lot wrong with your PC and how it works. Your computer might even send emails on its own, soliciting traffic to pornographic sites or other platforms. Technically malware is just a program however it is the intent with which it is made that gets it a red flag. The worst is the rate of malware programs production is much higher than legit software (Symantec, 2008).

History of Malware

It all started as a prank when programmers began to flex their brains to program to fool around more than creating trouble. They obviously didn’t know what their actions would bode for the future. This notion is confirmed till as late as 1999 when widespread malware programs such as Melissa and David seem to be pranks. However things changed since 2001 when these pranks took a sinister turn and started being used to corrupt files. This is when malware went devilish. Malware have evolved to be spyware now. These programs track down keystrokes and therefore can pass on critical information such as usernames and passwords. They are hard to detect since they come packed with reliable software packages and exploit the loopholes of programming. Why they stay unnoticeable is because they operate through rootkits, which let them modify the operating system in a way that it doesn’t identify the programs and neither show in the Task Manager pane. This keeps them running without getting noticed by either the users or less evolved anti-malware programs.

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Infographic: What is malware