Are malware and computer virus related to Internet security?

Comment:

Does it mean that we should not use some not-so-famous browser to surf the net because those will lead to risky result?

Follow-up:

Yes definitely. In fact, we should all be very careful in using any software in nowadays computing environment because of the Internet. Specifically, a malicious software (called malware) can extract useful information (e.g., bank statements, etc.) from your computer and then send them off to some remote computers (e.g., the hackers’ computers) for launching further attacks.

We should not trust certificates from unknown sources/companies. We should not trust the “judgment” made by the browsers, which might have been altered by some malwares.

Comment:

How about computer virus? (Is computer virus related to Internet security?)

Follow-up:

Computer virus, like “malware” I mentioned above, is highly related to Internet security in the sense that nowadays computer virus is not about making fun of an innocent user (as in the past). Instead, a virus will be used for getting sensitive information and/or using your computer to launch further attacks to others (e.g., Distributed Denial-of-Service attacks, like attacking popular Web sites such as Amazon.com).

Most importantly, a computer virus spreads by using emails or some bogus links in a Web page.

So we have to be careful in opening email attachments and clicking on some Web links.