What is the difference between spyware and malware?

Jan.25, 2010 in Security

Kenny G asked:

Hello,I would like to know the difference between spyware and malware.Will a spyware program get rid of malware.Thanks

It’s pretty much the same. ~
Spy ware IS malware!

No Name
January 28th, 2010 at 1:57 pm

[spyware blaster]

Spy ware is bad, but Mal ware is worse.

Spy ware = Spying on your net traffic/usage

Mal ware = Malicious software that may have browser hijackers, Trojans, mis configure your PC settings etc.

Go download Tune Up Utilities 2007. You can get a free copy at. Run it. Clean everything, the drive, the memory, the registry etc.

Good luck.

Ps. Not all spy ware cleaners hit’s mal ware. The above download will.

dewcoons
January 29th, 2010 at 9:43 pm

Malware can also be viruses, trojans, hijacks and other malicious software. It was a term created to cover all the categories of harmful software.
All spyware is malware, but not all malware is spyware

schrodinger_hated_kats
February 2nd, 2010 at 9:04 am

[spyware blaster]

Spyware is a type of malware. Malware is short for “MALicious softWARE”, and includes not just spyware– which can do all sorts of things such as track your Internet behavior, the sites you visit, and even change registry values, besides leaving all kinds of cookies and such in your system. Malware also includes viruses, Trojan horses, worms and other bad things.

A spyware program such as Spybot (among others) can get rid of spyware and adware and allow you to block these types of threats, but can’t do much of anything for other types of malware like viruses. For those, you need a good antivirus and firewall package. Many of these “security suites” also include spyware blockers. Examples include Norton, McAfee, PC-Cillin and others. Don’t rely just on the security programs included with your operating system– they’re weak at best!

Ya`akov
February 3rd, 2010 at 9:24 am

spyware doctor

Spyware refers to trojan programs which copy your keystrokes and send them off to an interested party somewhere on the Internet. It is used (legitimately) to find out what sites you visit, with a view of tailoring advertising to suit your perceived interests, etc. It is illegally used to capture financial and identification information when you type in credit card or banking data to your computer.

Malware is designed to make your computer crash, or to “take over” your computer, or turn it into a Spambot, which is a non-voluntary mail sender for mass-distributed Spam.

jibbarjabar
February 3rd, 2010 at 3:16 pm

Malware is short for MALicious softWARE. It is a “catch-all” term which includes virus, worms, spyware, trojans, dialers, PUPS, backdoors and so forth.

Therefore, anti-malware program should remove spyware, but an anti-spyware will not remove all malware.

sum
February 4th, 2010 at 3:30 am

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