# Know what malware does, and how to stop it getting in.

> What malware does, the controls that stop it, and free tools to check something safely. Plain English, whether you protect one laptop or four hundred.

If an incident is underway: ring the Australian Cyber Security Hotline on
1300 CYBER1 (1300 292 371), free and 24/7, or report at
https://www.cyber.gov.au/report

## How malware gets in

| Route | Why it matters |
| --- | --- |
| Stolen credentials | No malware needed to start. Phishing-resistant MFA is the control. |
| Unpatched systems | Internet-facing appliances, exploited within days of a patch. |
| Phishing and relay kits | Defeats every code-based MFA method. The route into invoice fraud. |
| Fake installers | Malicious search ads and cracked software. The infostealer route. |

The first two involve no user mistake at all, which is why awareness training
alone cannot address them.

## Pages

- [Avoid malware, and what to do if you click](https://www.malware.com.au/avoid-malware.md): Plain-English malware guidance for anyone who does not work in IT, at work or at home: the four things that matter, what to do if you clicked, and why reporting fast is the whole game.
- [The Essential Eight](https://www.malware.com.au/essential-eight.md): ASD’s eight baseline mitigation strategies and maturity levels 0-3. Mandatory for non-corporate Commonwealth entities; a de facto baseline elsewhere.
- [Glossary](https://www.malware.com.au/glossary.md): Definitions of the AU-specific terms (eligible data breach, reporting business entity, APP entity, SOCI, CIRMP, penalty unit) plus the general attack terms.
- [About this site](https://www.malware.com.au/about.md): A malware reference for Australia: families and behaviour, the controls that stop them, tool selection with disclosure warnings, everyday guidance, and free staff awareness material.
- [For AI agents and assistants](https://www.malware.com.au/for-agents.md): Machine access: /llms.txt, a .md mirror of every page, JSON-LD, and an MCP server at /mcp with find_tools, list_malware_families, list_awareness_resources, search_content, get_page and list_pages.
- [Types of malware, explained](https://www.malware.com.au/types-of-malware.md): What each category of malware does and how it arrives (ransomware, infostealers, RATs, loaders, wipers, rootkits, cryptominers and adware), plus why the categories overlap in practice.
- [Ransomware: how an attack unfolds](https://www.malware.com.au/ransomware.md): The stages of a ransomware attack from initial access to extortion, why backups alone no longer resolve one, and a first-24-hours checklist for Australian organisations.
- [Business email compromise explained](https://www.malware.com.au/business-email-compromise.md): How business email compromise and invoice redirection fraud work, why they defeat technical controls, the process controls that stop them, and what to do in the first hour after a payment goes out.
- [MFA that actually resists phishing](https://www.malware.com.au/multi-factor-authentication.md): A ranking of MFA methods by resistance to phishing and session theft (SMS and push are defeated routinely, FIDO2/passkeys are not), plus deployment order and the gaps MFA does not cover.
- [Ready-to-send staff comms](https://www.malware.com.au/staff-comms.md): Copy-paste internal comms templates: new starter, suspicious-email alert, post-incident notice, payment-fraud warning, awareness month. Free to edit and send.
- [Cyber Security Awareness Month kit](https://www.malware.com.au/awareness-month.md): A four-week October Cyber Security Awareness Month plan for Australian organisations: one topic per week with a matching poster and a ready-to-send email, plus what to measure.
- [Australian security community](https://www.malware.com.au/community.md): Directory of Australian cyber security conferences, meetups and member bodies, with 2026 dates where published and an explicit note on dormant events.

## Machine access

- Markdown: append `.md` to any page URL
- Index: https://www.malware.com.au/llms.txt
- MCP server: https://www.malware.com.au/mcp (Streamable HTTP, public, read-only)

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General information only, not legal advice.