What is the difference between adware, spyware and malware?
Spyware is software that enables an individual or company to see what web sites you are accessing, search your hard disc for “useful information” and also what your account numbers and passwords are. Adware on the other hand will display adverts for various types of products and services available on the Internet. Adware is annoying; spyware can be catastrophic to your computer and to you. Malware is spyware in its worst forms where in the end the malware will give all of your computer information to a third party, mess up your web browser settings and your Internet sites and prevent you from using your computer as it runs so slowly.
Spyware can perform many functions. One single spyware program or script on your computer can install some other spyware onto your computer so instead of having one spy looking at your computer there can be many. Each program and script will have the effect of slowing down your computer. Spyware can also mutate so that the simple program that comes into your system first will become a more complex second generation program which is harder to remove and will collect more information from your computer. Spyware and adware can both deliver annoying advertisements so when you want to do a task you are slowed down and unable to do what you want to do quickly. Spyware will also search through your hard disc. The spyware will search all your cookies to see what websites you have accessed; it will snoop to see what applications are on your system and scan all the files located on your hard disc. Spyware will snoop on you by reading your keystrokes to find out exactly what you are doing, so confidential information can be read and known. This information could be company confidential, trade secrets, or government classified, it could also be detailed information on a takeover or other secret information. Anything that is keyed into a computer or is stored on the hard disc can become public knowledge. Your credit card and national insurance numbers are spied upon together with passwords and your other personal information. Spyware can change the home page on your web browser, sometimes to a page that would be embarrassing for your partner to see and for you to explain. Spyware will add advertising links to your web pages that you are not paid for but the spyware owner is paid for. Spyware will never allow the computer user any uninstall option and often places itself in unexpected places making it difficult to remove.
