Posted on 11/27/2015 7:10:49 PM PST by Utilizer
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So what are the most common types of malware?
They fall into two main categories: those that are basically no more than a nuisance, and those that are aimed at getting money from the victim.
Perhaps the most common example of nuisance malware is adware. According to Oh, this is typically delivered along with free software or by compromised or malicious web sites. Adware rarely does any real damage, but some examples are hard to remove.
The term was once applied to 'advertising supported software.' In return for getting a useful application at no charge, you accept that it will display ads from time to time -- an approach you still see in the free versions of some mobile apps. If you don't want the ads, you buy the paid versions instead - and depending on how much you pay for mobile data, the paid version can work out cheaper than the free one. Seems fair enough, right?
But these days adware has taken on a darker meaning, and more often refers to malware that delivers unwanted ads, changes browser settings to use a different search engine, and so on. The people behind this type of malware benefit by being paid for the traffic their code (re)directs to particular sites.
(Excerpt) Read more at bit.com.au ...
Yes.
Did you know scammers who ask you to 'send money to help them get out of the country - you'll be paid back with mucho dinero' make their initial pleas obvious BECAUSE they don't want to waste their time on people who will catch on to the scam.
So if you look at one of those letters and ask yourself 'who would be stupid enough to fall for that' you've been weeded out by the scammers as a 'waste of time'. The people who 'devise these nuisance ads' are not thinking they're going to get you windsorknot as a customer... they're going for easier pickings.
One of those innocent malware things enabled someone to extract $50,000 from my back account. I’d recommend that people take it seriously.
As do I. I think malware authors should be hunted down and summarily killed.
Sadly, the excerpt focuses an inordinate amount of time on adware. Although annoying, it’s not even half of the real trouble with malware. The article does talk about the serious issues, but doesn’t stress the dangers sufficiently imho.
Agreed. The adware is an annoyance. I favor using SEAL or Delta teams to hunt down the other people.
Might even pay for itself...
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