Differences Between Adware And Spyware
Most computer users are fully aware of viruses, spyware and adware. Most of them even know the damage that they can cause to computers due to firsthand experience. However, not that many people understand why these malicious programs have different names. To many people a virus is simply any one of these pieces of malware.
Viruses
Viruses are where our story begins. These were initially practical jokes which were played on people in computer labs. Employees at IBM and other computer companies would trick each other by writing their very own viruses. These were common in the 1970's, however were not malicious. These were a bit of harmless fun which were confined to computer labs.
When PC's became more common in our everyday lives so did computer viruses. Computer viruses were released into the wild. Unlike the very first viruses, these new viruses were harmful and could cause serious damage to computers.
Adware
The people who wrote computer viruses were often doing so for personal reasons. There wasn't really any way to gain financially from this. Computer programmers soon thought of new and unique ways to make money from their skills. This led to adware.
Adware started out life as a form of legitimate software. Normally when installing software the user would be asked if he agreed to allow adware to be installed on his computer. Sometimes this was buried inside the user agreement and it would be a way for the programmers of software to get paid for giving software away.
Adware is often closely related to spyware because it studies the types of websites that you visit so that it can provide you with interesting adverts. Adware is generally not malicious and the only bad thing that it normally does is slow down your computer. Occasionally adware can also display adult ads to children.
Spyware
Spyware is very closely related to Adware. Spyware is a piece of software which is often installed on your computer without your knowledge. Like adware, it spies on your every move. It will then help the hackers to find out what you have been up to. Spyware is particularly dangerous because it can leave you at risk of identity theft.
Spyware makes it possible for people to monitor and steal important details. These include bank account details, passwords and even your credit card numbers. It's also possible for this software to reroute certain websites so that you see fake pages.
Spyware has recently become a whole lot cleverer as some of the criminal programmers have found ways of blocking you from accessing and downloading utilities which can get rid of them.
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