Malware is made up of two separate words, malicious and software. Malware is software designed to infiltrate or cause harm to a computer system, generally without the knowledge or consent of the owner of said computer system. In the most general way you can call Malware a computer virus however, this is a much more specialized type of virus.

In order for software to be considered malware, the intent of the developer and distributor have to be taken into account as opposed to the features of the software it pretends to be.

Malware can include any of the following:

•    Worms
•    Trojan Horses
•    Computer Viruses
•    Rootkits
•    Spyware
•    Dishonest Adware
•    Crimeware
•    And other types of malicious programs

Malware can do a lot of things to your computer system; for example, it can redirect the homepage of your browser to one for the company who permeated the malware on your system. This is usually a web page for another company advertising programs to remove malware from your system. It is very common for a company who sells these programs to be the same company who unleashed the malware on your system.

If you see pop-ups on your computer stating you have problems with your system or if they state you have malware slowing you down, nine times out of ten that pop up you are seeing is the actual malware on your system.

The best way to protect your computer from these programs is two fold:

1. Antivirus Program – McAfee, Norton and Avast are examples.
a. These work by constantly scanning everything on your system, including anything you download on the net against a virus database to protect your system from viruses
2. Malware Removal Programs – AdAware, SpyBot and Malwarebyte’s Removal are examples.
a. These programs work by scanning your computer system to look for known malware, adware and other such programs and removes them from your system. In general, you initiate the scan yourself and after it locates potential problems you can remove them from your system via the program.

When using malware removal programs, it is recommended to use two different malware removal programs, as some programs catch things others may miss. Scan your system at least once a week to keep it running well and free from problems.

Troy was sacked and burned that night.

This is exactly how a modern Trojan virus works. It disguises itself in another program you may be downloading or using on a website then it sneaks into your computer and wrecks havoc.

These programs will seem to perform some beneficial purpose when in fact they hold undisclosed malicious features to gain access to the host computer. When this happens the Trojan can give access to save their own files on the host computer or even the ability to watch the user screen and, in some extreme cases, take control of the computer.

Removing a trojan virus can be extremely difficult once it gets into your system because it can spread all over the place rapidly and hide itself in other Window’s files you need to operate you computer. This is why they are sometimes called “worms” because they worm their way through your computer files.

There are lists for manual removal of Trojan viruses but these are very long and horribly complicated and recommended for those with limited computer experience. The best way to prevent a Trojan virus from getting into your computer is antivirus programs and malware removal programs. These are programs written for the exact purpose of removing viruses of all types from your computer as well as keeping them off your computer when surfing the net.

Having these protection programs running while you surf the net will help to keep your computer safe from malicious programs such as Trojans viruses and other such malware. There are plenty of free programs online you can use to keep your data and personal information safe from prying eyes and sneaky worms.

A virus is a malicious program whose intentions can range from interrupting your Internet access to causing your computer to stop working and even stealing your personal information. No matter the reason for the virus, you need to be protected from them and there are a lot of different antivirus programs available for your protection.

There are some big names in antivirus protection, McAfee and Norton are the two most well known antivirus software suites; however, there are also a lot of free antivirus programs whose features and functionality are just as impressive. Most of these programs are offered for free because they also have more in-depth solutions, which you purchase.

Antivirus programs work by scanning your hard drive as well as anything coming into your system from the net against a virus database. When it detects something questionable it stops everything to deal with the threat. Most programs will have a pop up box warning you about the possible virus and ask what you want to do.

Modern antivirus programs also use a heuristic search and, simply put, this is an advanced way to look for viruses that is based on pattern recognition. Viruses tend to follow predictable layouts in their programming and through this an antivirus program can detect possible brand new viruses. This is especially important because new viruses are popping up every day.

There is no question you need to have a reliable antivirus program on your computer otherwise you are leaving your personal information open to attack or theft from a virus. A virus can be hidden in just about anything including a regular webpage and you don’t even have to download anything except for a good antivirus program.

As stated, normally these cookies are perfectly safe and you don’t need to worry about them at all. However, some websites can store potentially dangerous tracking cookies on your system which can leave you open to attack from other malicious programs searching for personal data on your computer.

Depending on what browser you are using you can set the permissions to allow or not to allow cookies to be stored locally on your computer. If you are using Internet Explorer you can do the following to delete the cookies on your computer:
1. In Internet Explorer, click the Tools button, and then click Internet Options.
2. On the General tab, under Browsing history, click Delete.
3. Select the check box next to Cookies. If you only want to delete cookies, clear any other check boxes.
4. Click Delete, and then click OK.
If you are using Firefox you can do the following to set your permissions for how the browser will accept or deny cookies:
1) In Firefox click on the Tools Menu and then on Options
2) Select the Privacy Tab and find the Cookies Section
3) If you want to accept cookies, check the first box
If you leave it unchecked, you can choose what sites to allow cookies in the Exceptions Button
4) Now click the second check box and choose how long you want to keep the cookies on your system. Most cookies have an expiration date built into them so they will go away after a specific amount of time.
5) Lastly, you can choose to clear them all at the bottom of this page using the Clear Now button.
In general, cookies are harmless but if you think you have a problem on your computer related to cookies, you can remove them in the ways listed above or you can use a Malware Removal Program such as AdAware, Malwarebyte’s or SpyBot as these will detect malicious tracking cookies and remove them for you.