Spyware vs. Virus

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What is the difference between Spyware and a Virus?

The typical response we receive when we ask a customer what type of spyware protection they have on their computer is, “I have AVG,” or “I have McAfee,”  or “I have Norton”.   These are all antivirus programs.  Some have a security suite that is supposed to be all inclusive but it usually doesn’t protect very well and slows down your computer.  It’s best to have one good antivirus program and more than one antispyware program. 

 A virus is a malicious software program that can cause harm to your computer.  This can be in the form of corrupting or damaging files such as your personal documents, pictures, or music and can make your computer unusable.  It is easily spread to other computers through email or sharing media such as floppy disks or USB drives.  Some viruses can duplicate themselves and travel through networks. The most common way to get a virus is opening an infected email attachment.

Spyware is a malicious software program that steals information from you by spying on your activity on your computer without your consent.  The most common way to get spyware on your computer is through surfing on the Internet or when you access websites that have peer-to-peer file sharing such as free music and video downloads.   While these products are “free”, you still pay for them by allowing an invasion of your privacy instead of paying with your money.  If you want to download music, we recommend Itunes. While it does cost .99 per son, at least you won't have to worry about spyware and now you can download movies too.

When spyware gets into your computer, it usually tries to steal information about your internet browsing habits, email messages and addresses, user names and passwords and credit card information.  If the spyware is not removed, it can transmit this data to another person’s (the host) computer over the internet.  It will then be used to either send you popup ads, steal money from you, send you spam and scams, or sell your personal information to other scammers.   I have seen computers so badly infected with spyware that they would not even boot up. 

I warn my customers all the time about the potential dangers of what could happen if their computer is not protected.  I know what can happen.  So if I’m aware of the problem, I must be immune to the dangers, right?  NOT!  Guess what?  It happened to me!  One morning I was doing my “normal work” when all of a sudden my bank calls.  I’ll have to paraphrase.

“Hello,” I said. 

“Hello, this is so and so with Your Bank’s Fraud Prevention Services and I’m calling you because we suspect fraudulent activity concerning your business debit card.  First, I need to get some information from you to prove that you’re Liz Black.”

“OK.  You’re scaring me.  I warn my customer’s about this stuff.”  I answered the questions correctly to verify that I’m Liz Black.

“We have put a hold on your Debit Card because we suspect fraudulent activity.  We show some purchases made on your account that is not your normal activity.” 

“I’m logging into my account now.” 

“We see a charge for $10.54 and three other charges that went through.  However, we blocked some coming from Germany.” 

The charges started at $10.54; then $24.95; another $24.95; then $32.95. They progressively
became larger and larger. She told me that the next one was going to be for over $50.

“I did not make those charges.”

“We’ll send you the paperwork to have those charges taken off your account.”

“Thank you so much. But how did you catch it so quickly?”

“We have software that monitors our customer’s account activity and when it catches something suspicious it alerts us and then we review your account. During this process we noticed that this was not normal activity on your account, so it threw up a red flag.”

She canceled my debit card and sent me a new one.

Here are the 4 charges that were pending on my account. As you can see, the amounts kept getting larger and larger. I guess these “scam artists” were starting low and increasing the amounts gradually to try to go under the radar and also to make sure funds were available in the account.

Pending POS DEBIT WWW.SEGPAYEU.COM 18009906276
$32.95

Pending POS DEBIT EPOCH.COM 13106645810 CA
$24.95

Pending POS DEBIT VBPDHD8009355771 2 800-935-5771 CA
$24.95

Pending POS DEBIT PAYPAL *RAPIDSHARE 4029357733
$10.54

I’m not sure if my debit card number was stolen online or if it happened when I used it somewhere in or out of town. There was a 30 day time period when I got my new computer that I kept forgetting to bring home a copy of Spy Sweeper, my personal favorite, to install.

Most people know they need virus protection. However, I’ve noticed that most people are left in the dark about spyware protection. At our computer store, it appears that we are teaching our customers, one at a time, about spyware. I think one reason for this is the lack of media attention such as television and radio. When viruses surfaced, we heard it all over the news. However, the lack of media attention toward spyware may also be confusion between viruses and spyware.

An analogy of a virus would be similar to you actually catching a virus from someone and you become sick. It negatively affects your health and prevents you from functioning at your optimum level. When your computer has a virus, it can cause poor performance, crashes, damaged and lost files and your computer does not operate at its optimum level.

An analogy of spyware would be if a salesman came to your front door and offered you cheap products or free gifts. However, while the salesman is holding your attention at the front door, a thief comes through your back door and steals your checking account and credit card account information. He then uses that information to steal your money or worse, your identity.

If it were adware, which is a mild form of spyware, the salesman would look around your house and check to see what type of products you were interested in and start sending you all kinds of junk mail that had offers for you to purchase the product you showed the most interest in.

How can you tell if you have a virus or spyware on your computer?

The only sure way to find out if your computer is infected with spyware or a virus is to run an antivirus and an antispyware program that have the most up-to-date definitions.

Here are some symptoms that may indicate your system is infected:

1. Your computer gradually starts to run slower and slower.
2. Your computer starts taking longer to boot-up.
3. It gets more and more difficult to access the Internet.
4. Your computer starts receiving a lot of popups or error messages.
5. Your computer crashes or freezes.
6. Your Internet home page changed (hijacked) but you didn’t change it.
7. You have shortcuts to programs that you didn’t install.
8. You have another toolbar in your browser that you didn’t intend to install or download.
9. Something in your task manager is using up most of the CPU usage and it’s not a program that is currently open.

Spyware causes your computer to run slower because it uses your computer’s hard drive space and memory.

How can I prevent my computer from getting viruses or spyware?

1. Make sure you have an antivirus program installed with the latest definitions.
2. Make sure you have an antispyware program installed with the latest definitions. It’s preferable to have more than one.
3. Make sure you have a firewall installed on your computer.
4. If Windows is your operating system, make sure it has the latest updates.
5. Delete your temporary internet files, cookies and web form information. In Windows, go to Control Panel, then Internet Options and under Browsing history, click on Delete.
6. Try using Mozilla Firefox instead of Internet Explorer for your Internet Browser.
7. Beware of email attachments, especially if it’s from someone you don’t know.
8. Be careful when accessing websites that have peer-to-peer networks. It’s usually nice to share but not on these sites. You share the good stuff and the bad stuff. Also, it’s illegal to download copyrighted music and videos for free. If you have a personal page on one of those peer-to-peer networking sites, set it up as private instead of public.

How do I get rid of viruses or spyware on my computer?

1. Make sure you have an updated antivirus program on your computer. Most antivirus programs will automatically run a scan to check your system for viruses.
2. Make sure you have an updated antispyware program on your computer. You have to manually run some antispyware programs especially the free ones. However, some will allow you to schedule it to run a scan of your system. Make sure you run it. If you only have one, get 2 or 3 or more.
3. If you use Windows, make sure it has the latest updates.
4. Backup your data, then format the hard drive and reinstall your operating system, drivers and updates.
5. If you’re unsure what you should do, bring it to our computer shop and we’ll do it for you.


Malware is any type of malicious software that is harmful to your computer. Spyware, viruses, Trojans, worms, hijackers, key loggers, etc. all belong in this category.

Definitions of other types of Malware:

Adware – A software program that downloads targeted advertisements on your computer and displays them while you are surfing on the Internet. This is how the company makes their money since you received their software for free.

Trojan Horse or Trojan Virus – A software program that appears to be legitimate but does its damage when you execute it or try to use the program. The damage can vary from just causing annoying pop-ups to the extreme of deleting and destroying files and programs. Trojans are also known for creating backdoors to your system allowing the bad guys to gain access to your files and information.

Key logger – A software program that actually records or logs every key you type on your keyboard and sends that information directly to the host or hacker (Bad guy or gal). They can log or record your credit card or online bank account user name and password or any secure information and send this information back to the host. Why can’t “they” do anything about this? It’s difficult to catch and prosecute someone located in Germany. When you
do online banking, the bank uses very high security. Most banks use 128 bit encryption, which means that it would take a hacker about 30 years to figure out how to hack in. However, the bank is not responsible for the spyware n your computer that can be used to steal your bank account information.

Worm – A software program that can send copies of itself to everyone found in the email address book. They can harm a network by clogging it up with copies of itself. A worm can spread so quickly that it can cause a network to slow down or come to a complete halt until it is cleaned up.

Hijacker – A software program that changes your home page or other internet browser settings and sends you to a different website than where you wanted to go.

Phishing – A fake email or website that looks official and asks you to input personal information that allows the scam artists to steal your financial information or identity. These phishers will even copy the company’s logo and other company information to look like the “real deal”. Always remember this: Your bank or credit card company will never email you asking for your personal information because they already have it. Also, banks and credit card
companies will not email you asking you to update your account or billing information.

Other email and internet related definitions:

Spam – Unsolicited email from someone you don’t know.

Cookies – A small piece of data that is stored on your hard drive so that when you return to a website, your previous information you typed will automatically show up.

Temporary Internet Files or Cache – Internet Explorer calls them temporary internet files. Netscape and Mozilla
call them cache. These are copies of the web pages you have visited that are saved on your hard drive. They speed
up the time it takes to open a webpage that you have already visited.

Internet Browser – A software program that allows you to surf or browse on the internet. Internet Explorer, Mozilla,
Netscape and Opera are some of the most common internet browsers.