Malware

The term malware is often tossed around, but what exactly does it mean? Malware refers to any software that is inherently hostile, intrusive, or annoying in its operation, and that performs any action or activity without the knowledge or consent of the system’s owner. Technically, malware is any software that deliberately operates in a manner that is contrary to what the user running the software expects. Software with flaws does not fit this definition. Although a software flaw can exhibit some of the same behaviors as malware, the difference lies in the intent of the developer. An accidental flaw is one thing; deliberately writing code that is destructive is malware.

In the past, malware was designed to infect and disrupt, disable, ...

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