Learning+about+viruses,+malware,+and+adware

**Viruses, Malware, Adware, and Spyware**
As many of you have realised, viruses, malware, and adware are one of the most irritating and troublesome problems a computer can get. They are also one of the causes of computer crashing, personal information leakage, and lots of other problems. First, it's important to know the difference between viruses, malware, and adware.

Viruses
Basically, a virus is a small program created to make problems in your computer. It can cause errors, computer crashes, and eventually destroy your hardware. Viruses can grow and replicate itself, just like a physical virus would. It can travel from one computer from another through the internet and discs/drives that are infested with viruses. The internet is one of the largest highways for a virus to travel.

Symptoms of a Virus

 * Emails being sent to all of your contacts even though you didn't send them
 * Being taken to a random webpage that you didn't choose
 * Being told you have a virus and that you mus download a program to fix it

Malware
A malware is a software designed for bad intentions. It can be installed on your computer accidentally or snuck through various connections. Unlike a virus, it is designed to continuosly cause problems and harm your computer.

Adware
Simply put, adware is malware designed for advertising. It is usually found in free downloadable programs. Some programs ask before installing adware. Others, unfortunately, sneak through and download adware without having the individual notice.

Spyware
Spyware is a malware designed to spy on you. There are different types of spyware that collect information. One common example of a spyware is a keylogger which records the keystrokes typed on your keyboard. Through keylogger, peoplpe lose their bank account details and other personal information. Spyware can also record your actions and browsing habits on the internet. Information collected by spyware is usually with the intentions to sell.

Bibliography Mitz. "Whats the Difference between a Virus, Spyware, Malware, and Adware?" //Computer Tips//. SEOpressor, 5 June 2010. Web. 08 Apr. 2011. [|h[[http://tips4pc.com/computer_security/whats_the_difference_between_a_v.htm|ttp://tips4pc.com/computer_security/whats_the_difference_between_a_v.htm].]]