Because of the quickly-evolving nature of computer technology, it can be hard to keep up with the latest terms to describe it. But one phrase you should know is malware – software created with the intention of causing harm to the computer it’s on, generally without the user knowing about it.

The term can also encompass adware and spyware as well, similar software that don’t necessarily damage the computer but interfere with its general operation, track and send information, and operate without the user knowing about them. Although malware isn’t quite the same thing as a virus, they share the same basic purpose – of screwing your computer up. It’s important to distinguish them from ordinary programs that may have running problems because of unintentional or unforeseen issues. Freely downloaded programs and files tend to host malware more often than purchased software does, and malware can also sneak in by piggybacking on Trojan viruses and rootkits.

Trojan horses are harmful installations that disguise themselves as seemingly innocent programs. These installations may seem harmless when running, but behind the scenes the malware covertly installs itself at the same time. Once installed, malware needs to remain concealed to continue working on your computer. This is done through rootkits, which work by concealing the malware from the list of running system processes, ensuring that the malware remains undetected.

The more sophisticated kinds of rootkits will actively prevent you from deleting them. It may, for instance, duplicate itself several times, and replace those copies whenever they’re removed, making it difficult to get rid of them all and also harder to identify the original problem files.

Some of the commonly known malware installations include Blaster, Sasser, and Mydoom. Another kind of unauthorized and harmful software that is similar to malware has been termed grayware. Unlike malware, grayware is not harmful, and is usually just very very irritating. Grayware is basically just an annoying software that really works to bug you more than to harm your computer, it installs things like unauthorized joke programs and ads in order to accomplish this goal.

These can be quite tiresome and are usually as difficult to get rid of as malware, and therefore are classified along with it. Not only can this software compromise your computers safety, but it can also leave you more vulnerable to other damaging installations. Grayware and malware can also get into your system through codes that are unauthorized by things you plug into your USB ports.

Since it is virtually impossible to keep your system free of malware, you should routinely check for it by using a reputable anti-malware system, such as Microsoft’s Malicious Software Removal Tool. This program — compatible with Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 — can both identify the specific malware installations on your system and assist you in removing them.

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