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Malware, short for malicious software, is a software that is designed to damage a computer,a network or a mobile device. It can disrupt computer operation and obtain sensitive and personal information of the user without his knowledge. Malware is different from a legitimate software which contains harmful bugs. The intent of both the softwares are different.
Malware can be of the following forms :
Computer Viruses: Like virus which cause fever to human beings, these viruses hide within an existing program and replicate themselves, thus spreading from machine to machine.Viruses are a top malware headache, generating everything from relatively harmless prank messages to commands that destroy valuable programs and data.They almost always corrupt or modify files on a target computer. A virus may activate immediately or lay dormant for a year or more before attacking its host system.Some viruses do nothing but replicate themselves.
Worms: Worms and viruses are similar in that they both self replicate.However worms are standalone computer program that replicates itself.It can hurt a system by rapid reproduction, sucking up storage and memory resources or network bandwidth.
Trojan horses: A horse is a very useful animal for us human beings. But this Trojan horse is a malware which masquerades itself as a useful application.Once installed it helps the hacker steal information. Unlike viruses, however, Trojan horses don't replicate themselves. A Trojan horse may also be designed to make its host more vulnerable to future attacks or simply activate to destroy hard-drive applications or data.
Rootkits: Very true to its name it subverts the root of the computer i.e. its operating system. Rootkit's installation can be automated or an attacker can install it once he has obtained the administrator password.Its detection is difficuilt since it can subvert the software intended to find it.The rootkit can
insert its own code into the basic core software operating the system.
Backdoors or Trapdoors: They are like secret doors which are known only to the owner.But once the secret door in know to robbers it can be misused. Backdoors / Trapdoors are hidden bypass to a program's security area, which is created by a programmer to expedite troubleshooting or for some other innocuous purpose. But once discovered by hackers this technique may be used to damage, destroy or steal data. A program with a known backdoor or trapdoor may itself be considered malware.
Spam: They are like the unwanted sales call which are not only a nuisance but can also lead us into buying things which are not up to the mark. Spam is a nuisance but they are often used by attackers as a tool for leading unsuspecting recipients to Web sites where viruses, worms, spyware and other types of malware can be installed on their systems.
Adware : This is a software package which automatically renders advertisement. They can be in the form of pop-up.Adware by itself is harmless but some of them may contain spyware.
Spyware: Very true to its name it is a spy which is installed on your computer and all your activities on the internet are monitored and details sent to the hacker. Spyware is a software installed on a computer to send information about a user's Web-surfing habits to an external location.Some spyware is relatively innocuous, designed to generate data about shopping, viewing or other habits without revealing the identities
of individual users. Malicious spyware, however, may be used to hijack Web browsers in order to change their home pages, receive waves of pop-up ads or ignore user navigation commands.
Botnets: Here a botnet also known as zombie army or a network of robots (Bots) that are infected by a trojan horse and commanded by an attacker, are used to launch spam email campaigns, viruses or DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks on Web sites for either amusement or extortion purposes. Typically,these botnets are built up secretly over several months before being activated.
Source : itsecurity.com & wikipedia.com
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