Malware, or “malicious software,” is an umbrella term that describes any malicious program or code that is harmful to systems. But if knowledge is power, as a preventative inoculation against infection, we offer here a short cybersecurity course on malware, what it is, its symptoms, how you get it, how to deal with it, and how to avoid it in the future. But instead of suffering chills and body aches, users can fall ill from a kind of machine malady-malware.Įach type of malware infection has its own methods of attack-from stealthy and sneaky to subtle like a sledgehammer. In contrast, there are no predictable seasonal infections for PCs, smartphones, tablets, and enterprise networks. You know how every year the medical community campaigns for everyone to get a flu shot? That’s because flu outbreaks typically have a season-a time of year when they start spreading and infecting people.
