Virus or Spyware - What's the Difference?

This month's article is one of the things I still find comes
up as a frequent question, "what's the difference between
Viruses and Spyware"? I will try and clarify that here.
One of the biggest slowdowns of a PC is caused by viruses,
adware or spyware as it's often called. Before you can benefit
from any other optimisation tips or improvements you really
need a system relatively free from those pests.

A virus is a piece of malicious software code written
to cause some kind of damage to a computer system or network
or even the Internet itself. Viruses spread, similar to their
biological namesake, from one machine to another and can
spread havoc wherever they go. They are most commonly spread
by sharing files with others or through email attachments
where they can be set up to send themselves to all the addresses
in your email address book.

Adware is usually downloaded and installed along with some
other program without your knowledge and unlike a virus
doesn't spread by itself. Very often you click "OK"
without reading the terms and conditions and by doing so you
agree to have the files installed. An example is you see
a "free" program on offer that you think might be useful
and download it without thinking. Even some anti-spyware
programs install adware and the website earns money from the ads
that are clicked on.

The catch is that the extra files introduced are used
to determine things like your surfing habits and the data
is used to serve up popup ads or redirect your browser to a
page other than the one you wanted. Some of the programs
can be used to install keyloggers which can send back
information about passwords and bank details etc. Adware is
not a security problem it is more an annoyance especially
when you have ten different programs trying show ads.
The amount of computer resources it uses up slows your system
to a crawl.

Spyware is more malicious and evil intentioned and is designed
to steal something from you. It can be downloaded by visiting
the wrong types of websites or along with other files
the same way as adware. Spyware can often be hard to remove
as it can continually recreate itself and hide somewhere
on your hard drive.

Programs such as trojans can be used to allow access to hackers
at a later date. From the story of the Trojan horse where
the Greeks hid inside the wooden horse left as a peace offering
and were wheeled in to the fort by the Trojans themselves.
Then at night the Greeks crept out of the horse and opened
the gates and let the enemy in. Trojans and adware unlike
viruses don't spread themselves.

It is wise to run more than one spyware checker as no one
system gets rid of them all. You can never be certain you
have every one removed because new ones may not have been
discovered and the Spyware program doesn't recognise it yet.
I use the two free ones "Spybot" and "Adaware" and I
also use http://www.pcsandthings.com/CounterSpy.htm which
comes from a reputable company that specialises in removing spyware.

Sometimes people say to me "doesn't my anti-virus software
remove spyware"? Well the answer is, most don't and even
if it does I always find a specialist product works best.
Beware also of bogus spyware scanners available on-line
which actually install their own spyware once they have removed
their competitors. Sometimes you run a free scan and it finds
all sorts of nasties but you will have to sign up and pay
to remove them. I have even seen it that they find things
that don't exist or try to frighten people into believing they
have lots of spyware when all they have are advertising cookies.

Cookies are small text files that websites leave on your
system so that when you return they can customise the page
that loads or they can count you as a returning visitor.
They are harmless and most of them are useful. They can be
easily removed by deleting them in your browser settings.

So you need to be running a suitable and up to date antivirus
program and one or more Spyware checkers.

More computer tips can be gotten from my website at
http://www.pcsandthings.com