DANGERS OF THE INTERNET

Malware, or Malicious Software is a category of malicious codes that includes viruses, worms, trojan horses, hoaxes, logic bombs and joke programs. It is any piece of hardware, software or firmware that is introduced into a computer system for unauthorised purposes to damage it, usually without the knowledge or consent of the user. This includes worms being sent through email and instant messages, trojan horses set down from websites and "virus-infected" files downloaded from peer-to-peer connections.

Malware should not be confused with defective software, that is, software which has a legitimate purpose but contains harmful bugs.