Articles by Andrew Sanders

Even though antivirus programs work tirelessly to detect and remove malicious software, malware threats are on the rise, infecting more computers than ever before. We’ll take a look at the trends of malware, major statistics and the effect it has on Windows, Android and Mac devices.

By looking at past behavior, we can tell a bit more about the future. It’s very important to understand malware trends so you can take the necessary steps to avoid this threat.

Keep up to Date on:

• The major developments in malware
• Any new malware creation trends
• The comparisons between the major operating systems
• Malware infection rates by type
• Infection rates by region and sector

Everything has a beginning – including computer viruses. In this regard, rootkits can be thought of as the origin of all malicious software. Although malware did exist before the term “rootkit” was coined, it typically involved either subverting vulnerabilities such as default passwords. Rootkits were something different.

If you don’t know what a computer virus is, or haven’t been infected by one before, then you might not know the signs to look out for. People often think that a malware infection looks like something out of a fanciful movie – flashing lights, smoke coming out of your computer tower, a laughing skull appearing on your monitor.

In 2017, the FBI reported that a collective 300,000 victims lost $1.4 billion due to online scams. The victims in these cases tended to be either relatively old or relatively young – in other words, people who may not have enough tech-savvy to understand how to see through what may seem like a fairly obvious falsehood. Even the most tech-literate people can still fall victim to online fraud, however.

New malware and security threats show up every week; our job to bring you the news in order to stay one step ahead of these malicious threats.

Here are the most dangerous malware threats you need to know about in order to protect your PC and devices from infection:

Looking for a free mobile security app for Android and iPhone? Avast Mobile Security & Virus Cleaner is the no-cost mobile version of the popular desktop antivirus software. Let’s take a look at what features you get with the free version, whether it meets all your needs, and what might be missing.

When it comes to malware, a lot of us have this idea that our phones and tablets are somehow less vulnerable to viruses than our laptops, PCs, and servers. Unfortunately, that’s far from the truth.

Our phones are just as vulnerable to malware and ransomware by malicious programs similar to those that infect computers; mobile phones may even present a larger attack surface due to their abundance.

We’ve written extensively on the various attacks that your computer can experience simply by browsing the internet. If you type in the wrong address on your browser, you can get hit by a man-in-the-middle attack. Download the wrong file, and suddenly your browser, homepage, and ads all look different.

Imagine that someone in your computer could see everything you write. Hackers have access to a specific kind of malware known as a keylogger. These pieces of software record and transmit everything you do with your keyboard and mouse. That means every word you type – even words you type and then subsequently delete. It means every email you send, every chat message, every Skype message, every Slack message, every tweet, every Facebook update, and every URL your type into your browser.

Shovelware. Bloatware. Adware.  There refer to programs that are running on your PC – and that may be active right now – but that most people don’t know about and never use. These programs clog your limited hard drive space, hog your memory, and generally degrade the performance of your computer.