The Evolution and Expansion of Computer Virus Threats

Virus software is unauthorized software which is designed to replicate itself on a computer without the owner's knowledge or approval. From the original virus threats which would erase a hard drive or slow the computer to a crawl, new virus threats have developed over the past decade and more. The major additional new threats have been characterized as spyware and malware.

What are the distinctions made by software security professionals between spyware and malware?

Spyware is designed to quietly run on a computer and gather data. The spyware software silently monitors and records user input and network traffic. Eventually the spyware sends this personal information from the infected computer to another computer where the data may be used for monetary advantage. This advantage does not usually mean the fraudulent use of credit card information. The monetary advantage could mean providing records of sites visited to companies wishing to make targeted sales. Or it could mean providing email address book data to scammers looking to distribute scam email in hopes of obtaining bank account or credit card information.

Malware is a more generic term than spyware. Malware refers to any malicious software which has installed itself in an underhanded or deceptive way. There are five main categories which are often included under the heading of malware: adware programs, spyware programs, hijacking programs, toolbars and dialer programs.

An adware program causes pop-ups which display an ad on your computer screen. These pop-ups may occur when you click on a link in your internet browser or they may occur when you open and run a program. There are legitimate adware pop-ups provided as helpful short cuts on some business web pages. The malicious adware pop-ups mimic the legitimate ones in order to deceive the user.

We have already described spyware programs above.

A hijacking program generally uses Internet Explorer and redirects your web connection to sites which you had not intended to visit.

A malware toolbar emulates Google or Yahoo toolbars and like them it offers additional functionality. But the malware toolbars function in order to gather data or redirect web searches or display pop-ups ads.

The final category is the dialer program which generates an automatic dial out over modem connection to a 1-900 toll charge number.

To meet the evolving threats from spyware and malware, security software has been developed by operating system developers and by anti-virus software companies. The new threats constantly call for new counter-measures in this ongoing battle for user security in the networked computer environment.

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