What is malware? It’s a rather simple question, but to answer it, we have to go back in time.

The first real instance of malware occurred in the early 1970s — when BBN Technologies engineer Bob Thomas wrote the code behind the so-called “Creeper worm.” The worm was the first self-replicating computer program, and it quickly spread through the ARPANET, annoying users with the pop-up message: “I’m the creeper: Catch me if you can.” Over time, engineers took the Creeper worm’s principles further, leading to the creation of the first viruses.

A decade after the Creeper worm, computer scientist Fred Cohen defined a virus as “a program that can infect other programs by modifying them to include a, possibly evolved, version of itself.” The definition remains accurate today, but now, it applies to an array of programs that have been created for nefarious purposes.

Read More

Modern malicious software — or malware for short — has reached unprecedented levels of sophistication, and as the attack landscape continues to evolve, new threats will undoubtedly emerge. Malware affecting websites poses a special danger to businesses. Even some of the world’s largest corporations have fallen victim to attacks.

Read More

Malware has infected roughly a third of the world’s computers, costing companies across the globe trillions of dollars each year. Yet in a recent report by Nationwide, only 13% of small business owners said they’d been targeted by a cyberattack, but when they saw specific examples of cybercrime — from phishing to ransomware — that number shot up to 58%. Malicious code isn’t confined to operating systems, either. Millions of websites across the internet also contain vulnerabilities that make them easy targets.

Read More