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Malware

Malware is an umbrella classification for any type of malicious application, including both PC threats with independent files and viruses that insert themselves into other files. While malware also is often used to refer to suspicious programs that don’t acquire adequate consent for potentially risky functions, malware doesn’t refer to unintended programming oversights that may harm your PC (such as vulnerabilities, exploits or bugs in otherwise safe programs). Common sub-types of malware include trojans, spyware, worms, viruses and rootkits, as well as malicious types of adware.

Since malware is such a generalized term, avoiding malware attacks is, in large part, a matter of practicing overall internet safety. Our malware research team suggests staying away from unusual links, file attachments, advertisements that offer strange downloads and any site that’s confirmed to host harmful content, since all of these methods are routinely utilized for malware distribution. Malware may or may not be able to distribute itself, and until you’ve confirmed what type of infection you’re dealing with, you should prevent other computers from accessing an infected PC’s network or removable media devices.

Common Symptoms of Malware Attacks

Although the earliest types of malware were often designed for destructive and capricious purposes, the modern state of the malware industry is that of creating profit by illegal means. One of the most common strategies is that of a browser hijack, which can include pop-ups, redirects and clickjacking. The majority of the attacks noted above will force your browser to load undesirable and often harmful content, and in the process of doing so, create traffic or ‘clicks’ that generate revenue for malware-distributing criminals. Unfortunately, such attacks don’t always create symptoms other than the mandatory amount of computer resource usage and a potential for corresponding devolution in your PC’s performance. In particular, browser redirects may or may not be very obvious – in some scenarios, the only clue of a malware attack may be a very small change in a website’s URL as an indicator that you’ve been taken to a copycat site.

Besides browser-related issues, malware programs are also often guilty of blocking security applications. In instances of rogue security programs or related trojans, you may see inaccurate pop-ups that state that the blocked applications are infected or damaged. Dysfunctional anti-virus scanners or operating system utilities are often symptoms of malware attacks as the malware attempts to protect itself from being removed, and in doing so, makes your computer vulnerable to other PC threats.

The Consequences of a Malware Infection

Malware often includes multiple components and several types of PC threats that are arranged in a semi-interdependent fashion. Our malware researchers note that if you fail to remove all malware in a single scan, reinstallation of removed malware is extremely common, especially for rootkits that often evade detection. Rootkit-based malware may require additional steps to remove besides merely scanning your hard drive and should be considered high-level threats to your PC in all circumstances.

Malware may expose you to malicious content nearly continuously, but subtle attacks by malware are just as dangerous as obvious ones. Some of the most difficult types of malware to detect can include spyware-related functions that target sensitive information for theft, with favorite targets including bank accounts and accounts for online games with real-currency transaction systems. Deleting malware with suitable software as soon as possible will keep the chance of harm coming to your PC as small as possible, and you should never attempt to ignore malware or use a malware-infected computer for private transactions.

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There are currently 910 malware program(s) in our database.

Name Date
'Achtung Aus Sicherheitsgrunden wurde Ihr Windowssystem blockiert' Ransomware December 20, 2011
'Android.Fakeyouwon' Malware July 26, 2019
'Coronavirus' Email Virus March 27, 2020
'COVID-19.exe' Wiper April 2, 2020
'Las operaciones sobre las actividades ilegales' Ransomware November 28, 2011
'Panda' Cryptojacking September 25, 2019
'System Update' Android Malware March 29, 2021
'Tik Tok Pro' Malware September 10, 2020
‘Your computer has been locked!’ Ransomware August 31, 2012
16Shop January 22, 2020
1click downloader May 16, 2012
AbaddonPOS May 27, 2019
ACH debit transfer malware November 10, 2011
AcidBox June 18, 2020
ACM_SHENZ.A December 6, 2013
AcridRain August 30, 2018
ACXInstall March 28, 2006
Adrozek Malware December 11, 2020
Advantagesetup September 20, 2011
Adylkuzz Crypto-Miner May 19, 2017
Agent Smith July 15, 2019
Agent.E July 24, 2009
Aggah April 25, 2019
AIM Logger March 28, 2006
Aldi Bot October 5, 2011
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