  In the standard cosmological model a mysterious cold dark matter (CDM)
component dominates the formation of structures. Numerical studies of the
formation of CDM halos have produced several robust results that allow unique
tests of the hierarchical clustering paradigm. Universal properties of halos,
including their mass profiles and substructure properties are roughly
consistent with observational data from the scales of dwarf galaxies to galaxy
clusters. Resolving the fine grained structure of halos has enabled us to make
predictions for ongoing and planned direct and indirect dark matter detection
experiments.
  While simulations of pure CDM halos are now very accurate and in good
agreement (recently claimed discrepancies are addressed in detail in this
review), we are still unable to make robust, quantitative predictions about
galaxy formation and about how the dark matter distribution changes in the
process. Whilst discrepancies between observations and simulations have been
the subject of much debate in the literature, galaxy formation and evolution
needs to be understood in more detail in order to fully test the CDM paradigm.
Whatever the true nature of the dark matter particle is, its clustering
properties must not be too different from a cold neutralino like particle to
maintain all the successes of the model in matching large scale structure data
and the global properties of halos which are mostly in good agreement with
observations.
