Malware is the shortened term for “malicious software”. It denotes any software that installs itself on a computer without the owner’s permission. Two types of malware are adware and spyware.
Note: Computer viruses are another type of malware. It is suicidal (in a computer sense) to run a PC that is not protected from viruses. As a result, I’m assuming that you have anti-virus installed on your computer and you keep the virus software and definitions “current”.
Are you free of malware if you have removed adware, spyware and protect yourself from viruses? Maybe.
Recently, I started to use a program called Malwarebytes (available for free download at http://www.malwarebytes.org/). I use the program as a malware safety net. Occasionally, it will find and remove malware (even some viruses) that the other programs had not. It’s worth the time for the increased peace of mind.
