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WHAT IS MALWARE?
Malware is, of course, bad software, plain and simple. It's code that was created for the purpose of doing something sinister to your computer. Most of the time, it infiltrates a person's system without their knowledge.

There are many types of malware and this is where it starts to get confusing. Types of malware were typically named not for what they do, but how they attack the machine.

This is because engineering nerds who were the first to encounter malware were more interested in the method of delivery, instead of the end-goal - which is why one category of malware that ‘tricks’ a system in order to invade it is called a Trojan horse and not, say, a data deleter.

Other types of malware include viruses that infect legitimate files; backdoors, which can open programmes and steal data from your computer; and rootkits, which can spy and collect passwords. One of the more dangerous forms of malware, aptly named ransomware, literally holds your files for ransom by encrypting them. If you pay up, you might get the decryption key to regain access to them. If you don't, they're unavailable forever.

Another form of malware that is perhaps a little less mal is called a Potentially Unwanted Program (PUP). Potentially Unwanted Programs are programmes you actually agree to install, but the agreement is generally obtained in a sneaky manner, such as having a pre-checked box on one of the many installation pages you need to click through. Many people find these programmess to be annoying - interfering with your search behaviour or displaying advertising on your computer are common behaviours - so anti-malware products help you deal with and remove such programs.

SO WHAT EXACTLY IS ANTI-MALWARE SOFTWARE?
Anti-malware is a piece of software that you knowingly install on your computer with the purpose of protecting your system from malware infiltration and infection. Anti-malware programmes are able to do this in three ways: they detect malware on your computer, safely remove it and clean up any of the damage to the computer that the malware may have caused.

HOW DOES ANTI-MALWARE SOFTWARE DO ITS JOB?

Definitions
Many programmes scan for malware using a database of known malware definitions (also called signatures). These tell what the malware does and how to recognise it. If the anti-malware programme detects a file that matches the definition, it'll flag it as potential malware. This is a good way to remove known threats, but requires regular updates so the program doesn't miss out on newly developed malware.

Heuristics
Another way anti-malware (AM) detects bad software is a form of analysis called heuristics. An alternative to database scanning, heuristic analysis allows anti-malware programs to detect threats that were not previously discovered. Heuristics identifies malware by behaviours and characteristics, instead of comparing against a list of known malware. For example, if an application is programmed to remove important system files, the anti-malware software may flag it as malware (since applications should not be doing that). However, heuristic analysis can sometimes result in ‘false positives’ or programs flagged as malware that are actually legitimate.

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