Week:2 "Malware"

“Prevention is better than cure", this proverb was initially most relevant in the world of medicine. The same is now true for several other fields including warfare, finance, infrastructure and cyber-security. Lately, it has found relevance in our day-to-day life. As good health is to human life so is cyber-security to digital life. In fact, computer viruses earned their name due to their ability to "infect" multiple files on a computer.

While the flu is caused by influenza virus, spread through air and complications can vary from mild to severe, computer virus spreads through email attachments like images, greetings or audio / video files, physical media, social media scam links or internet downloads. The intent and effect of a virus can be mildly to extremely dangerous with serious financial implications, data loss or permanent damage to hard disk. 

In today’s digital age, using the term computer virus is not apt as it is a small part of a much bigger picture – Malware. Malware is an abbreviation for malicious software and is designed to cause damage to the computer. The latest versions of malware are hard to detect and difficult to remove. They include computer viruses, worms, Trojans, ad-wares, spywares, spam, tracking cookies and other misleading applications

Virus attaches itself to a file, replicates itself and damages data. Worms are programs that reproduce multiple times and cause high CPU utilisation. Trojans are a look alike of genuine application which open the door to malicious users. Ad-wares are programs embedded in pop-up advertisements which are downloaded on the computer. Spy-wares are programs installed without the knowledge of the user and collect critical information pertaining to the user. Spam is the method of flooding the internet usually in the form of mail. Tracking cookies are plain-text files that store browsing data. Misleading applications are programs which claim to be good but at the back-end either extort money from the user or ask for critical personal information like credit card details.

It is better to avoid malware, like influenza. We can prevent the flu by washing hands frequently, wearing a mask or being vaccinated. Malware can be prevented by using anti-virus software, keeping it up-to-date along with the operating system and other software, scanning the machines regularly and being vigilant to what is being downloaded on the computer.

Even though influenza is not considered a severe health concern, its outbreak can be life-threatening. Ignoring a common cold can intensify the effects of the flu. Similarly, ignoring malware and having wishful thinking that it won’t affect you will put you in harm’s way. It is like endangering the critical information of you, your family and peace of mind.