Your Guide to The Nasty Stuff...

What we protect you against

A glossary of potential threats to your computer:

Malware Any malicious software. A general term for anything that is trying to attack your system or run without your consent.

Trojan Taken from the idea of a Trojan Horse (for those familiar with Virgil). This pretends to be an innocent file and you usually have to click on something to let it in. It does not replicate itself like a virus but lets other malware enter your system or lets someone else, or something else, take control of your system.

Virus Attacks your system. To be classified as a virus it must be able to replicate itself and move around. Viruses can attack via e-mail or by attaching themselves to memory sticks, CDs, DVDs etc.

Rootkit Programs that conceal malware. They are normally designed to appear innocent and part of the legitimate system but they redirect security scans in poor anti virus software and let the virus continue even when the system thinks it is clean.

Spyware This will collect data on you. They can collect data and send it off to another system to enable further attacks. They may simply be tracking web trends but the more sinister ones are used to collect data like passwords etc which can be used against you later.

Phishing The attempt to get key information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details by pretending to be someone you trust, like a bank. Associated with criminal fraud.

Cyber Vandalism As the name would suggest simply designed to trash your system.

Key points

One in every 122 spam emails contains malicious code: Source Symantec.

More and more threats make use of legitimate resources that have been compromised. For example, legitimate sites that have had malware loaded.

Internet Explorer 8 is the most attacked browser.

An all round layered protection strategy is required rather than buying a spot product because it is cheap or a well known brand.