subject: What's a Malware Infection? [print this page] What's a Malware Infection? What's a Malware Infection?
In this article you are going to discover exactly what malware is and some of the things you can do to prevent problems that can arise when your computer is infected. let's face it, you don't want to be involved in ahard disk data recovery process unless you are absolutely need to.
The term malware is a technical abbreviation of the words malicious software. Effectively, it is a piece of software which was created with a malicious intent to cause damage without the owner's consent or knowledge. The broader term computer virus' is more commonly used to describe the effect of malware, but in any definition the description applies to any piece of invasive software that can cause problems with an infected computer's operating system in total, or particular elements of the system.
In the majority of cases there is no rhyme or reason for the creation of this software other than for pure vandalism. In some cases however the malware can have criminal intent by gaining access to personal data stored on a computer especially financial details and banking passwords etc. There have also been instances where viruses have been unleashed on major public utility services such as electricity and transport and even more complex government services like the defence Department.
Whatever the reason may be for the creation of malware, the negative effects which can be perpetrated by the spread of these viruses depends upon the complexity of the code used in making the software, the difficulty of detection and the purpose for which it was created.
Antivirus software companies are continually updating their databases to combat the spread of viruses and malware as soon as possible after they have been detected. It is estimated that the number of viruses created outnumbers legitimate software creation by as much as 20 times which means that antivirus software updates are created almost hourly around the world.
A malware infection is spread to computers either via e-mail or by surfing the net. Attachments to e-mails which are sent disguised as a legitimate document or piece of can deceive unsuspecting receivers who proceed to open the document only to find that their computer stalls or crashes.
Malware can also be spread simply by accessing websites known as attack sites', which generate code that can download into a visitor's computer almost without them being aware.
So, what is being done to prevent the spread of vicious malware and what our search engine is doing about it?
Search engines can do very little to stop the creation of vicious websites and can only act when sufficient warnings and investigations reveal that a particular address is in fact an attack site'. It is more in the hands of anti-virus software companies like Norton, McAfee and Trend Micro etc to keep on top of the spread of viruses by updating their protective software as soon as they are detected. In the majority of cases this protection is sufficient to guard most computers to their owner's satisfaction.
Small businesses and larger companies need to prevent their systems becoming infected by implementing blocking strategies and filters that keep their systems virus free. You will truly value the preventative measures you have in place when you avoid having to use adata recovery service to save you from a disaster.
