The term “malware” refers to what is viewed as malicious software. A computer cracker might install malware on a machine for one or more reasons. The conniving computer cracker hopes that installation of the malware will allow him or her to travel at will throughout the database in the computer registry. The computer cracker knows that many home computers have important banking information stored on them. The computer cracker knows that by putting malware on a hospital computer, he or she can hope to obtain valuable health information. Perhaps computer crackers used malware to retrieve the information sighted in recent news reports, the information taken from records at the UCLA Medical Center. Now every computer owner should know that he or she can not expect conventional anti-virus software to detect the presence of malware in a computer. When putting malware in a computer, the computer cracker capitalizes on the features of a polymorphic virus. Such a virus can modify each of its varied parts, removing any detectable signature from that part. The polymorphic virus in malware does not stop at destruction of one part of the computer registry. It creates damaging changes in multiple sections of whatever registry it has invaded. Malware is thus a term that includes many different types of registry-altering software. Spyware, keyloggers, rootkits, pseudorootkits, hijackers, adware, anoyware, email relays, spam proxies, spam relays, scam downloads and spam robots all rely on the introduction of some type of malware. Computer crackers delight in thinking-up new ways to destroy the life of an unsuspecting computer user. They are not content to secretly invade a computer system, thereby slowing that system and permitting confiscation of important personal information. Some crackers even put Trojan horse software on the invaded computer. The crackers can then listen to any words spoken into the microphone that’s connected to the computer. A computer cracker who has access to malware programs can undertake invasion of the most challenging computer systems. Once a malware program has invaded a computer, its presence generally remains undetected. The most up-to-date malware can detour around firewalls, and enter computer ports that have no network “firewall” security. Certain types of malware can even fool proxy servers. A computer user might expect that an excellent antivirus, when combined with the latest software firewalls could somehow disable every malware program. Software developers long to create a program that has the ability to meet such high expectations. Unfortunately, such a program is not available at the present time. There is some anti-malware software. It has been reviewed in the following section. Still, computer crackers continue to create newer and more “evil” types of malware. Computer users can thus be at the mercy of such malware until a new anti-malware program has come on the market. In the meantime, the writers of dictionaries must anticipate the possible need to add to the growing list of technology terms, terms that are already in a fair number of dictionaries.
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