# Index/Encyclopedia of malicious software?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/index-encyclopedia-of-malicious-software/591103>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 1, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/index-encyclopedia-of-malicious-software/591103 "2011-08-01T22:48:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\
**Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/index-encyclopedia-of-malicious-software/591103/1 "2011-08-01T22:48:44Z")

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I have used MalwareBytes to fix a malware infection. It seemingly “identifies” the culprit, using terms like “Rogue.SystemTool” and “Malware.Trace”.

Is there any index where I can look up these malicious softwares to see what they could have done to my computer?

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/index-encyclopedia-of-malicious-software/591103/2 "2011-08-01T23:30:13Z")

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The antivirus vendors do have virus dictionaries, but they often have different names for the same virus. There is no standardization.

Those names seem to be a generic name for a class of virueses.