Malware

Malware

Imagine you have a special toy that you love to play with. Now, imagine if someone sneaks in a toy that looks just like yours, but it's actually a bad toy that wants to cause trouble. That toy is what we call Malicious Software, or Malware for short.

Short hand for Malicious Software

A program that is inserted into a system, usually covertly, with the intent of compromising the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of the victim’s data, applications, or operating system or otherwise annoying or disrupting the victim.

Classification:

Propagation mechanisms include those used by viruses, worms, and Trojans. Payloads include system corruption, bots, phishing, spyware, and rootkits.

Zero-day attack

Zero-day attack is when bad guys find a secret problem in computer software that nobody knows about. They use this secret problem to do bad things like messing up programs, stealing information, or harming other computers. It's called "zero-day" because nobody knows about it until it happens, so the software's creators have zero days to fix it or tell people how to protect themselves.

Computer security

Computer security is like having special guards and locks to keep your toys safe. It's about protecting all the important things in a computer, like the computer itself, the programs, the information, and how they all talk to each other. The guards and locks help make sure that everything stays safe, nobody messes with it, and only the right people can access it.

The protection afforded to an automated information system in order to attain the applicable objectives of preserving the integrity, availability, and confidentiality of information system resources (includes hardware, software, firmware, information/data, and telecommunications).