Payload

In cyber security, the payload is the data cargo transported by a piece of malware onto the affected device or network. The payload contains the fundamental objective of the transmission, which is why the payload is actually the element of the malware that performs the malicious action (i.e. stealing financial information, destroying data, encrypting data on the affected device/network, etc.). When you consider malware’s damaging consequences, that’s when you can talk about the payload.