John Ndlovu
Information and Technology Reporter
Protection and safe keeping of information in devices is one of the most important aspects in life so one has to safeguard their devices from infiltration by Malware which are very dangerous to devices ranging from laptops and smartphones. However people tend to corrode their own teeth with the priceless sweet called malware through opening fake links and downloading harmful applications which infiltrate information.
Computer Malware appears in different forms before harming the computer or stealing information from the device. It can appear through an online ad(advert) which usually appears in form of video and once one clicks the advert their information gets infiltrated, it can also appear through website links in which when one clicks that link then boom the Malware pops into the device and seriously undermines computer performance. Computer virus might also get into the computer through sharing of information with someone having an infected device or flash drive.
A Malware refers to any kind of software that is designed to harm a computer. It can steal sensitive information from one’s computer. It can also collect information without people’s knowledge.
Zim GBC News managed to speak to technicians on the impact of malware to computers and how it could be solved.
Raymond Dube a technology guru based in Bulawayo stated that malware is a real threat to one’s software as it causes hacking of systems and stealing of sensitive information by intruders
“Malware is really a threat to computer software as it affects computer information as once virus creators get access to that information they can infiltrate it and send it to other people and even steal loads of information even monetary thus if one infiltrates a person’s computer and even steal bank accounts and passwords.” Dube stated.
Muzi Ncube(not his real name) a computer technician based in the Bulawayo Central Business District also said that most of the Malware is used to steal people’s personal information and tampering with the information.
“Malware mainly affects data. As most of it is designed to steal data or personal information, they rarely tamper with the hardware. Some tamper with the system such as the ransomware which has capabilities to lock one’s data and cause it to be inaccessible to its owner.” Ncube said
Ncube further stated that most of the malware gets into one’s device through emails, fake links and unauthorized applications.
“Most of the Malware comes in through emails. Once the malware user reads someone’s emails they hack it and infiltrate through to send the messages to other users which they also infiltrate through, they can spread very faster. Installation of unknown software also contributes towards malware infiltrating to one’s computer as they ask for access to administration of one’s device and gain access to their information therefore becoming administrators.”
There are different types of Malware such as a virus, worm, Spyware, Adware and Trojan horse,
A computer virus is a type of computer program that, when executed, replicates itself by modifying other computer programs and inserting its own code into those programs. If this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be “infected” with a computer virus, a metaphor derived from biological viruses.
A worm is a malicious computer program that sends copies of itself to other computers via a network.
A spyware refers to a type of computer malware that collects information from people without their knowledge.
Adware is a software that automatically plays displays or downloads advertisements on a computer.
A Trojan horse is a destructive program that appears as a useful application only to harm one’s computer and steals information once it’s installed.
People tend to succumb to malware due to curiosity as they are attracted to open links such as fake academic scholarship links. Which therefore results in one being hacked therefore leading to information infiltration.
Malware can affect performance of the computer as it might cause the device to slow down or operate slowly.
So to curb such one needs to make sure that they protect their device against viruses through avoiding downloading free software from the internet, avoiding clicking fake error messages or pop-up window that might contain malware, keeping computer and software updated as updated computer versions contain more security fixes against malware attacks, limiting file sharing and having a reliable anti-virus software on the computer.