by iakul

Created on: October 12, 2009

Malware refers to any type of hostile or annoying program that could potentially harm your computer or infringe on your privacy. Typically, malware are installed on a computer without the knowledge of the owner.

There are different types of malware and some of these like Trojan horses, worms and viruses, work actively to tamper with the operating system of the computer itself.

Others, like keyloggers and spyware, are more passive, and are designed to collect data without the computer owner's knowledge. Keyloggers, as the name implies, is software that detects which keys are struck on the keyboard. Spyware, while usually passive, have also been known to change computer settings and set the home page to a different one. They collect data such as a user's surfing habits and the sites that he or she has visited.

Nowadays, malware is increasingly being used by their authors for financial gain. These range from stealing passwords and credit card numbers via keyloggers, to reconfiguring the computer infected by malware to spam e-mail messages or redirecting users to certain web pages. Malware has become so prevalent that it has been estimated that as more malware is being developed than legitimate software applications.

Given the amount of harm that malware could cause you, it stands to reason that we have to take steps to protect ourselves from it.

Having anti-virus software installed on your computer is a must, and so is getting your anti-virus software regularly updated. For those of you who have kids at home who likely haven't learnt safe surfing habits, seriously consider having a firewall installed, as well as setting the user privileges for your kids to a level that you are comfortable with.

It's also important to develop safe surfing habits on your side. Check to see that the address of the site is really what it is, and not a spoof, or another lookalike site that is masquerading as the site you are visiting, before you enter sensitive information like your password and username. Never download anything from dubious sites, since you never know what else may come bundled with that download, or it that download really is what you think it is.

Clear your Internet cache regularly, and if you find your surfing speed slowing down without any reason, or pop up ads appearing on your computer, be prepared to do a sweep of your computer. There are software freely available like Spybot Search and Destroy which do a remarkable job at accomplishing this task. For those of you who are more computer savvy, you might also want to schedule a regular reformat of your computer every few months.

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