Malware or malicious software is just another name for software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner's consent.
The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code.
Software is considered malware based on the perceived intent of the creator rather than any particular features. It includes computer viruses,worms, trojan horses, spyware, adware, and other malicious and unwanted software .
Of course any anti-virus software will "kill" most of the malware.