Next, we are going to see how to protect against malware and what are the types that exist . The list is quite extensive and we will go into details a little further down.
What is a malware?
The first thing to understand is what is malware? The word means “Malicious Malware” which in a few words refers to malicious code of any kind which aims to damage a system.
In a few words, it could be said that malware is a kind of “disease” that tries to interfere with the proper functioning of a system, device, computer, etc. Its objective may be varied, but it is always malicious.
What we mean is that there may be malware to spy on Internet activity, steal information, lock the computer, steal money, control computer processes. In short, trying to harm a person so that the creator of the malware can make a profit.
How can I get infected?
Malware or viruses generally come in .exe files that we download from the internet. Many others are run by code through websites , also by email. We can find malicious code in compressed files such as .rar, various documents such as PDF, etc.
This class of files are always disguised as benign files, that is, files that we generally need or are looking for on certain programs that we trust, for example.
It is quite common when you try to download free things from the internet, to find this kind of surprises.
What Kind of Malware Exists? What types of viruses are there?
There is a huge amount of malware, each one with its own definition since they fulfill different functions and have different objectives .
Virus
The virus is a kind of program whose purpose is to destroy or change something in the system through some kind of .exe ( executable ) file .
Spyware
One of the most ” known ” unfortunately and it is a software that, in short, spies on our activity on the computer. It gathers information about our activity in general terms. It is normally used to collect data for advertising companies and in this way have personalized advertising when browsing the internet.
Ransomware
What it does is try to block access to our entire computer or part of its system. On many occasions when we try to enter the computer we see a website that seems very serious where money is requested to be able to free the PC.
Adware
It is quite common, it is misleading and massive advertising . What it does is that when browsing the internet we see too much annoying advertising on different sites. When the site itself does not have advertising, the malicious program is responsible for adding it to our browser.
Trojans
This class of malware are programs that appear on our computer after installing another program . On many occasions we download programs from official sites, we click ” Next ” all the time when we install. And without realizing it, we are approving the installation of this kind of malicious programs that add ” back doors ” to our PC.
Scareware
It is a software that is responsible for generating fear in the user by making him believe that his computer has some kind of problem and offering a solution to it. When you run the ” magic solution ” you are giving the person behind this malware access to your computer.
Keylogger
It would be a keyboard logger. Are you imagining what it does? It basically captures all the keys that you press when browsing your computer . This way you can steal passwords, bank accounts, etc.
Exploits
They are found in applications, programs, games, etc. They take advantage of the security gaps of different applications or games to exploit it. It can also happen, as you might be imagining, in an operating system. Which is a huge risk. That is why it is important to keep everything updated.
How to protect yourself against malware
There is no magic recipe for this. No antivirus will protect you 100% . Ideally, you should try to have a reliable, popular antivirus that is kept up-to-date at all times.
But the most important thing is to use consistency when browsing the internet. Otherwise we are consistent and aware of the risks. So no antivirus can help us.
