Adware Spyware & Computer Virusses

The days of the common garden variety computer virus is long gone. As if computer viruses wasn't enough, we now have Trojans, adware, worms, spyware and a load of new threats that can knock your entire computer out - without you even doing anything. These things can terrify the more "challenged" computer user and in many cases can cause a lot more damage than just slowing down your computer.

Malware is the term that loosely describes all MALicious SoftWARE. This is softare that is created with the sole purpose of destroying, harming or stealing. Virusses, adware and spyware are all malicious software because their intention is to either get some sort of data from your computer or to "break" some function on your computer.

The 3 main malicious threats are viruses, adware and spyware. Let's look at these 3 briefly to gain a better understanding of the differences and what they actually do.

1. Computer Viruses
This is the one that everybody knows about. Most people still use the term virus loosely for every kind of infection. The truth is that computer viruses aren't much of a threat anymore. Anti-virus software like Norton and MacAfee became so sophisticated that those creating the viruses did not stand a chance.

Although there are still a lot of viruses out there any good anti virus software will give you ample protection. It seems like the creators of these viruses all moved unto something more important - making money from their rogue software. This is where adware and spyware comes in.

2. Adware
Adware has taken on a life of it's own. It started out s legitimate installations that often came with application. The adware software was used as a means to communicate with the users and sometimes to gather data from the user on how the software is performing. Before long this "good intention" became twisted and adware applications today are just completely misusing this concept.

Adware usually gets installed legally and the disclaimer is hidden in some dense Terms and Conditions document that no one ever reads. Most free software these days come with the hidden agenda of Adware to make money. Adware primarily gathers data from your computer to find out what you like and which websites you visit. It's builds a profile and then it starts pushing advertising pop-ups in your face.

Apart from being extremely annoying, these pop ups can slow your computer down to a grinding halt and getting rid of them is virtually impossible without an adware remover software.

3. Spyware
While Adware applications find their way unto your computer through legitimate installs, Spyware is 100% sneaky. It gets installed without your knowledge or your consent. Where Adware wants to advertise to you, Spyware wants to steal from you.

Think about it. The sheer amount of sensitive information on personal computer is a potential goldmine. Credit card details, bank details and even your entire identity is up for grabs. With spyware someone else can actually gain access to your computer, snoop around and take what they want - without you even knowing. Scary?

Today, a simple Anti-virus software is not enough to keep you safe. In fact, most anti-virus software is grossly inadequate to remover adware spyware and other malicious software. There's a lot of new Adware spyware software that's specifically designed to guard against these threats. Don't just rely on your anti-virus program. It won't be good enough.