: software designed to interfere with a computer's normal functioning
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebThe Director of the Directorate for Information Security, Dusan Polovic, said 150 computers were infected with malware at a dozen state institutions and that the data of the Ministry of Public Administration was not permanently damaged. Predrag Milic, ajc, 31 Aug. 2022 Bad actors used botnets, malicious code injections and other digital technologies to steal sensitive information, make fraudulent purchases, abuse accounts and distribute malware at scale. Ido Safruti, Forbes, 18 July 2022 Prior to the invasion, hackers knocked offline or defaced Ukrainian government websites and wiped some servers with destructive malware. Alan Suderman And Frank Bajak, The Christian Science Monitor, 1 Mar. 2022 Two Ukrainian government contractors — one with a presence in Latvia and another with a presence in Lithuania (both NATO members) — were hit with the malware, according to Broadcom's cybersecurity unit Symantec. Sean Lyngaas, CNN, 26 Feb. 2022 As the Department of Homeland Security reminded private industry over the weekend, American critical infrastructure, including the power grid, is laced with Russian-planted malware.New York Times, 24 Jan. 2022 Basically, as summarized by cybersecurity researchers at Bitdefender, cybercriminals have been using fake versions of to distribute malware to victims. Andy Meek, BGR, 3 June 2021 JuiceStealer was discovered on VirusTotal in February when someone, possibly the threat actor, submitted a Python app that surreptitiously installed the malware. Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 1 Sep. 2022 This will force the computer to launch the malware every time the system boots up. Michael Kan, PCMAG, 31 Aug. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
malicious + -ware (as in software)
First Known Use
1990, in the meaning defined above
Legal Definition
malware
noun
mal·ware ˈmal-ˌwer
: software that is designed to interfere with a computer's normal functioning and that can be used to commit cybercrime (as by revealing passwords, PINs, and other sensitive data)