What causes a program to be labeled malware? What are some main characteristics of malware?

I am trying to learn more about malware based on what other people describe it. It will help me improve my knowledge.|||Malware, being a pretty new term has many different definitions. Although, I use the term to mean any malicious software on a computer (this seems reasonably consistent with much of the computing world). This (to me) includes three main categories spyware, adware, and viruses.





Here's a quick rundown of each of those terms:





Virus - this is a program that is set upon a computer with no intent other than to damage the computer, spread itself, and/or take control of the computer. Viruses can be either trojan viruses (which attach themselves to other, seemingly benign files) or worms (which spread themselves like biological viruses (hopping along from host to host in whatever way they're designed to). I hesitate to even use the word "virus" much anymore because people seem to associate the term with any malware, including adware and spyware. Viruses are the "worst" kind of malware. There is no justification for their existence.





Adware - Adware is pretty simple. It's software designed to advertise. Sometimes viruses are used to spread adware (as with some versions of Conficker). Sometimes adware is included in "free" programs as a way for the publisher or developer to make money. This is generally considered to be a bit underhanded (because sometimes they are less than straightforward about what you're getting in to). Adware is usually the source of "out of the blue" popups (that you get when you're not actually surfing the web). It works a bit like Spam. The intent is to hit as many people with ads as possible in the hopes that if 1 in 10,000 people actually responds, they still make a profit.





Spyware - Spyware is designed to "observe and report." It sits on your computer (often without making any sign of its existence) and watches what you do. This could be as much as recording every mouse movement and keystroke or as little as just checking what websites you visit or even how often you use a certain program. It then reports this data back to its owner.





There are other kinds of malware (such as "ransomware" -- a virus/adware hybrid that encrypts or locks your data until you pay the creator for its release). But those categories can pretty much encompass all the different stuff out there.





As for what makes something malware. Well, it's sometimes the intent in which it's created. Or sometimes the effect. But probably the biggest determination of whether something's malware is if it's deceitful. If the average user doesn't realize they're installing it, then it's malware. Even if it's bundled with something the user meant to install.





One such example of "gray area" malware is Warden [1]. Warden is a program included with World of Warcraft (an extremely popular online game). It runs alongside World of Warcraft (WoW) and checks to see what other software is running at the same time. If the player is running anything that might help them cheat or gain an unfair advantage in the game, then Warden can be used to find out if they are and report back to Blizzard (the makers of WoW).





Another example is SecuROM [2]. SecuROM is a gray area form of spyware/malware used (most notably) by EA. EA makes a number of extremely popular video games (including Spore, the Sims, and a host of sports games). SecuROM is designed to prevent unauthorized copying of the program it's attached to. In order to accomplish this, it can be set to do many things. One of those options is to prevent the game from being played if any disk image mounting software (such as Alcohol 120% or DamonTools) is installed. Both those tools are legal in themselves, but could possibly be used to assist in pirating software.





So to answer your question. It can sometimes be very hard to categorize something as malware or not. Both my "gray area" examples would seem to qualify as malware under my previous definition. However, they have not been determined to be illegal (to my knowledge) and many people are perfectly content with their existence and usage. It seems that malware is like pornography. In the words of a supreme court justice, "I can't really define it, but I know it when I see it."|||The best-known types of malware, viruses and worms, are known for the manner in which they spread, rather than any other particular behavior. The term computer virus is used for a program which has infected some executable software and which causes that software, when run, to spread the virus to other executable software. Viruses may also contain a payload which performs other actions, often malicious. A worm, on the other hand, is a program which actively transmits itself over a network to infect other computers. It too may carry a payload.





These definitions lead to the observation that a virus requires user intervention to spread, whereas a worm spreads automatically. Using this distinction, infections transmitted by email or Microsoft Word documents, which rely on the recipient opening a file or email to infect the system, would be classified as viruses rather than worms|||Malware is basically software that covertly runs on your computer for the purpose of damaging that computer. The main distinction between malware and a computer virus is that malware is usually labeled as software that does not directly attack your computer but provides an environment where a hacker could enter your computer(trojan horses,backdoors)|||Malware, short for malicious software, is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner's informed consent. 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.





Try this site for all the information you need:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malware|||Usually, malware is installed without user's knowledge through the use of Trojans or other malicious software. Misleading security programs display false scan results and fake security alerts. To remove those supposed infections you have to purchase the program. But it's nothing more than a scam.|||Basic definition about malware is that it doesn't respect your permission ... It just jumps in and starts what it was designed for ... Some simply hide contents of pendrives, log your key strokes, send out weird mails, make your PC go slow with consuming CPU time ... Some act as legitimate applications like antivirus and fake infections on your PC, compelling you to purchase full version to remove them ... While some are independent files, some others alter code of exe files and embed into them, hence corrupting the files ...





Basically antivirus opens up the file and sees presence of malicious code which it already knows and cross compares, if positive, declares as a virus ... Some antivirus even monitor file activity to declare it as a virus ....





Read this for more ...





http://pcgyaan.wordpress.com/2009/03/30/鈥?/a>|||The suffix 'mal' means bad. So if something does bad stuff to your computer, it's malware. You know, viruses, spyware, adware, things that take over your computer and eat your hard drive, that sort of thing.|||some viruses try to delete files..some try to act the admin...some try to be a keylogger like a trojan...some try to format...some try to send commands and stuff...thats all i know or can remember|||it attackes on your system files and makes ur computer freeze................