Malware

I'm not even sure how many people are familiar with the term malware. I for one have heard about it but never really did any reading on to to fully understand what it really does and how it can affect your computer.

Wikipedia defines malware as: "short for malicious software, consists of programming (code, scripts, active content, and other software) designed to disrupt or deny operation, gather information that leads to loss of privacy or exploitation, gain unauthorized access to system resources, and other abusive behavior."


In today's society you can find malware anywhere on the internet. A common place to find it is on social networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace, and LinkedIn. Hackers have discovered that people who use these social networking sites are not very cognizant of the information they look at of share. 
A form of malware that can be found on Facebook is through the use of random friend request from people you don't know. This tends to be very common because it seems that most users will add anyone who ask to be their friend. While I have never had this problem, because I don't add people who I don't know personally, I have seen malware through some of the videos that are posted on Facebook. 


The main motive behind malware is so that hackers can steal you personal information such as bank number, social security numbers etc. 


Ways to prevent malware on your computer are through the installation of anti virus software. While this has proven to be very effective, you have to continually check for any update that may be needed for the software. If you fail to continually update your computer you are just leaving the door open for another malware attack. 


While there are many options out there to protect us from malware, in the end it still comes down to us and how cognizant we are of the things we do on the Internet. Those programs can only be as effective as the person using the computer. If you are continuously going to push the limits on things you do on the Internet then you are only asking to get something in return.  

For anyone who is having a problem with malware on your computer, I Found this youtube video that shows you step by step how to remove malware from your computer. The video is kind of long but I think it can be very helpful.

Final Exam Question: What is the name of the company that Facebook has partnered up with to protect users from malicious links?
Answer:Websense