Whats the difference between spyware, malware, adware, & trojan horses (& other viruses)?
Spyware is any software that covertly gathers user information through the user’s Internet connection without his or her knowledge, usually for advertising purposes. Spyware applications are typically bundled as a hidden component of freeware or shareware programs that can be downloaded from the Internet. However, it should be noted that the majority of shareware and freeware applications do not come with spyware. Once installed, the spyware monitors user activity on the Internet and transmits that information in the background to someone else. Spyware can also gather information about E-mail addresses and even passwords and credit card numbers. Spyware is similar to a Trojan horse in that users can unwittingly install the product when they install something else. A common way to become a victim of spyware is to download certain peer-to-peer file swapping products that are readily available on the internet. But more and more, users can be infected with spyware simply by surfing the int
A couple of fine distinctions: Viruses require human interaction. In the early days, this was often giving a floppy disk to a friend who then put it in his computer. These days it means double-clicking an email attachment or visiting a website. Worms are completely autonomous. They actively scan the internet for new targets, immediately infect them and the new target starts scanning the internet for new targets. Worms can spread extremely quickly because there is no need for human interaction. Nimda, Code Red and Blaster are famous examples of this. Trojan Horses are disguised to look like something useful but are actually malicious. Most trojan horses these days fall under one of the other categories because nobody writes random destructive code anymore. In the early days many viruses and trojan horses would do nothing more than delete your entire hard drive. Now, the virus writers want to make money by sending spam or collecting credit card numbers and marketing information. Spyware
