Malware

Many people are familiar with or have heard the term malware, but many don’t actually know what it means. In short, malware is computer software that is designed to disrupt, damage, or gain access to a computer. As scary as that may sound, malware is often avoided by most internet users, which leaves the question of how does malware find its way onto your computer, and what can you do to avoid it.

To start with, although remote installation of malware is possible, that typically doesn’t happen to the average person, as it would require an existing security vulnerability, which would normally be created through social engineering. Instead, most malware finds its way into a computer via a lapse in user judgement. What this means is that most malware is unknowingly downloaded by a user. If you’ve ever visited suspicious websites, you might be familiar with download buttons or ads that look like the one below, or you may have gotten spam emails with links in them. It is possible, and quite likely, that these links will lead you to downloading malware. It is also worth noting that it is possible for malware to execute itself automatically after it is installed, although most operating systems do a good job of preventing this.

So how do you avoid it? In general, the best way to avoid malware is common sense. If something looks suspicious, or sounds too good to be true, it probably is. However, not everyone can be vigilant against online threats all the time. So, a good backup is an anti-virus, which will monitor your computer and automatically alert you about suspicious files. But anti-viruses are not infallible, which is why the best way to avoid malware is to not download it in the first place.