Malware is software designed to cause harm to a computer and user.
Spyware monitors a user’s location and if enabled, it can capture sensitive information, e.g., credit card numbers, promoting identity theft.
Computer worms are similar to viruses in that they replicate functional copies of themselves and can cause the same type of damage.
A Trojan is another type of malware named after the wooden horse the Greeks used to infiltrate Troy. It is a harmful piece of software that looks legitimate. Users are typically tricked into loading and executing it on their systems. Trojans must spread through user interaction such as opening an e-mail attachment or downloading and running a file from the Internet.