Malware, short for malicious software, encompasses a broad range of threats, such as viruses, trojans and worms. They are most commonly spread via spam, drive-by downloads and malvertisement. In most cases, malware infects systems through multiple stages, with an initial infection side-loading additional malware.

Script malware is frequently malicious JavaScript inside an HTML file, typically encountered on web pages. They tend be hard to detect and infect users not via file downloads but directly in the scripting language. The latter directly loads malware into the system’s memory, bypassing traditional detection methods.

Often underestimated, mobile threats on Android and iOS devices usually take the form of malicious apps. The most common type is adware, which displays unwanted ads, installs unwanted applications, and even occasionally installs malware on a user’s device. Other threats include banker Trojans, ransomware, and Spyware.

Mining cryptocurrencies locally is unprofitable, so malware authors steal computing power to do it. Most CoinMiners lurk in otherwise clean websites, either directly embedded or hidden in malicious ads, mining away while the victim stays on the website. While they are one of the least damaging types of malware, they still degrade performance due to the constant added load.

Exploit is a term used when malware authors use security gaps – so called vulnerabilities – to execute malicious code. Windows OS tends to be the most at-risk, but other applications and operating systems are targets as well, including Android, Chrome, Firefox, MacOS, Adobe Flash, the Linux kernel as well as database system such as MySQL.