Privacy, Security & Virus Information
What is malware?
Malware has lots of different definitions depending on which expert you speak – but the one thing they all agree on is it’s not good for your computer.
Under the banner of ‘malware’ are a host of different software nasties that can infest your computer’s hard drive and send your personal information across the internet to scam artists and fraudsters.
At some time or another, most people reading this will have been a malware victim through one of these ploys:
Adware is like it says on the tin – software that opens browser windows on your screen displaying advertising. Some adware has a clever built-in widget that pops up ads related to the software you are using or the internet page you are browsing.
He name describes exactly what it does – hijackers take over your browser and send you to places you don’t want to go, like scam search engines and advertising sites.
Not so common nowadays when most people have an ‘always on’ broadband connection. Dialers connect computers to the internet via premium rate numbers rather than your internet service provider’s number (ISP)
A nasty piece of software with several purposes, spyware scans your hard drive for usernames, passwords and email addresses and reports them back to a remote computer.
Other types of spyware collect data you type in to browser forms or sends information about the web sites you visit to a data collection agency.
Sometimes when you visit a web site or download software, especially from a file-sharing site, a new toolbar appears in your browser. These toolbars that load without your permission are often spyware.
Yahoo! And Google toolbars are spyware – they collect data about your browsing history. The difference is they ask permission before you install them.
Windows Defender and most antivirus have built-in malware detection to protect your computer while you are browsing.
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