Malware, spyware and the like

What brings someone to create malware, spyware, viruses and worms? Why on earth does everyone want to hurt or harm everyone else these days? What goes through these folks minds when they sit down and create the next big virus threat? I just dont understand the meaning behind it all. I consider it just as bad as terrorism in the world, just without the guns and bombs.

There are two common types of Trojan** horses. One is ordinary software that has been corrupted by a hacker. A hacker inserts malicious code into the program that executes while the program is used or modified. Examples include various implementations of weather alerting programs, computer clock setting software, and peer-to-peer file sharing utilities. The other type of Trojan is a standalone program that masquerades as something else, like a game or image file, in order to trick the user into executing the file or program.

Malware** is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner’s informed consent. It is a portmanteau of the words “malicious” and “software”. The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code.

Spyware** is computer software that is installed surreptitiously on a personal computer to intercept or take partial control over the user’s interaction with the computer, without the user’s informed consent.

What can we do to protect ourselves these days? Do we really ever have enough protection against these threats or do we just hope we are covered. I run the McAfee Security Suite and just hope that its enough. Always make sure your antivirus, firewall and spyware detectors are up to date with any available updates.

I will start compiling a list of recommended programs that are free to use and have a good reputation. I will start off with AdAware by Lavasoft. This program is free for the private home user or you may pay a fee to have the Pro version. I use the free home version and it works fine for what I need. You can find it here: AdAware

In the next few days I will add to this as well. Hope your having a great week!

**(definitions taken from wikipedia.org)