Some of this content can be offensive, which can indicate that you have spyware or adware on your computer.Īdware monitors the websites you visit and pushes ads onto your device. This allows them to target you with advertising for products and services, whether you’re interested in them or not. Spyware and adware work by passing information to third parties about your behaviour online. Trojans themselves don’t spread over networks, but the other malware they download can. If other people get access to your computer they can download more malware, like worms, from the internet. When they get into your system, they can give others access to your computer without your knowledge. Just like the Trojan horse of Troy, they hide inside legitimate objects - for example, files like Word documents or PDFs - until someone opens them. Worms can also damage your files and programs, and leave you vulnerable to other forms of attack.

Once they’re in your system they can move quickly and easily through lots of computers on a network, whether it’s a local network (LAN) or a global network (WAN). Just like a parasite, a worm requires the host - in this case, your computer - to be operating to spread. Worms are a kind of malware that can enter your computer system through: Having a virus in your computer system can make it more vulnerable to other attacks, like ransomware. When a virus gets into your computer it can spread through your programs and files, corrupting them and causing your computer to either slow down or even stop working altogether. get on a portable drive, like a USB drive.

Viruses may enter your computer system when you download an infected file or visit an untrustworthy website. to steal sensitive information from an individual or business.

to get access to, and control of, a computer system.

Malware aims to go unnoticed - to gain access to your computer without you knowing it's there.

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