malware.

Software designed to damage systems, steal information, or perform unwanted actions.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• detect malware
• malware infection

On the page

The malware altered the logs before anyone noticed the missing transmissions.

Usage notes

Primary category: sci-fi. Forms: Usually uncountable; no ordinary plural in this sense. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: description, setting. Commonness: moderately common.