As long as the malware has been growing with its sophisticated types of attacks, there have been growing numbers of myths and misconceptions about them. The cybercriminals created and introduced malware in the mid-1980s and since then the hackers are attacking through using various new and advanced malware or malicious software with different names such as spyware, adware, viruses, worms, keyloggers, trojan etc. Understanding about this malicious software as well as the common myths and misconceptions will not only help the users to protect their systems but also confidently address the issues of vulnerabilities as well as effectively carry out their online activities.
One of the most common myths and misconceptions is that most users of computer systems believe that regular and timely updates of computer software do not have anything to do with cybersecurity rather keeping the anti-virus updated is more effective in maintaining the security of the system. On the other hand, outdated software is more vulnerable to cyberattacks with increased chances of crashes and security holes. Therefore, the computer systems which are regularly and automatically get updated with the latest updates of software and operating systems or manually get updated, have fewer chances of cybersecurity breaches. Interestingly, many users ignore the updating notifications believing in the misconception that software and operating system can be updated at a later stage because they are not so important. In fact, they are as important as anti-virus updates.
The second myth about malware infection among the maximum users is that they will know once their systems get affected by malware. However, numerous studies have revealed that around one-third of world’s computers are functioning with infections of malware or adware. The truth is while some malware slows down the computer systems whereas some run in the system without any detection or sign. Most users accuse other reasons when they see that their systems are too slow but never blame malware because they are often beyond detection with no sign of their presence. Similarly, very few users regularly scan their systems even without the sign of the presence of malware whereas most users neglect to scan their systems with the misconception that scanning is not necessary because there is sign of malware presence in the system.
There are other popular myths regarding myths about malware such as many people think that Macs are safe from malware, or established and famous well-known websites are free from malware threats, or malware is not a problem if there is no important information in the computer etc. But these are all misconceptions and the truth is something else.
