What is Malware - ‘Ware Series #4
I am currently doing a series of posts defining certain terms that are often used to describe certain kinds of software and hardware - collectively known as ‘ware when used in these terms.
Malware is short for “malicious software” and refers to any software that harms the performance, confidentiality, integrity, or accessibility of the machine on which it runs.
Viruses are maleware because they compromise the integrity and performance of a system.
According to most, Spyware is malware because it compromises the system’s confidentiality and performance.
Crapware is Malware simply because it damages the performance of the system it is installed on.
These three types of software compromise the performance of the PC by the simple fact that they use up system resources that could otherwise be used by the programs the system is supposed to be running.
Adware is a special case. Sometimes the Ads displayed by a piece of software are done in exchange for making the rest of the software, desired by the user, free. In this case, while displaying the adds takes up system resources, the adware is not malware because this additional drain on system resources is what makes the software available in the first place.
On the other hand, much adware is installed without the permission or knowledge of the computer user or administrator, and takes up system resources, while also forcing the user to close out or work around additional adds, reducing productivity from more than just a decrease in performance. This software is definitely classified as malware.
Some people also make exceptions for some Spyware such as the Google Toolbar. After all, one of the reasons that Google provides their tool bar is so that they can monitor and collect statistics of your use of the internet. I don’t.
Even if a software developer’s primary purpose is not to harm your system, but rather to use your system resources to their end (like a cracker does), the fact that they don’t care that they are stealing some of your computer’s resources makes a large amount of that software malware.