What’s the difference between a virus, a worm, a Trojan and spyware?
All these types of malicious software, or malware, pose a serious threat to your computer and data. • A virus invades a computer and copies, deletes or damages data. • A worm is a virus that reproduces itself and spreads to other computers. • A Trojan (short for Trojan horse) is a virus that, despite appearing to be good or helpful, actually destroys your data, damages your computer, and steals your personal information. • Spyware is software that tracks your online activity, can launch numerous pop-up ads, and may steal your personal information or change your computer settings without your knowing. How can I avoid malicious websites? Never click on, or copy and paste, links that are sent to you by people or companies you don’t know. If you want to verify that the site is legitimate, type (don’t copy) the homepage portion of the URL (ending with .com or .net, etc.) directly into your browser address bar. When doing an online search, visit only results that are well known and trusted s
