What this unit is about

The recent huge increases in ownership of home computers and ever-widening access have been obvious boons to many peoples' lives but, as with many things that improve life, there is a downside. The downside with computers is that software crashes, hardware fails and some Internet users want to cause havoc or vandalise your computer. In this unit we will look at a few of the problems that other people may cause you.

Normally when we talk about malicious software we are referring to viruses, worms and Trojans (which are collectively referred to as malware). But there are other items that can arrive in your mailbox that can be equally frustrating or annoying: mail messages that contain unwanted offers or misleading information, which cause loss of time and, in some cases, money. These messages normally come under the collective title of spam. Advertisers and criminals are also trying to use your web browser to deliver misleading pages, or programs that are trying to steal your financial details or even your identity.

You can expect to spend about 10 hours studying this unit.

We'll start off with a look at how the problem of malware is growing.