You are discussing computer security with a group of high sc

You are discussing computer security with a group of high school students attending a technology workshop, and you are mentioning different types of malicious software or malware. Of the following, what do you say the malware types grayware, adware, and spyware have in common?

A. They can all damage a computer’s software applications.

B. They can all duplicate themselves and send themselves to everyone in your e-mail address book.

C. They all act on your computer in an annoying way but don’t cause serious damage or problems.

D. They all are used to gather personal information about you from your computer, such as your stored passwords and social security number.

Solution

C. Grayware is a general type of malware that acts in a way that is undesirable but does no serious damage to a computer. Adware is a type of grayware used to display advertising banners in Web browsers without your consent or perform similar actions. Spyware is a type of grayware that installs components on your computer designed to record your Web surfing habits or other information and then sends that data over the Internet to a third party. Modern antivirus software applications also have the capacity to recognize the signatures of these malware types and either block them or delete them from your computer.