[sah]

what is spyware? is it harmful? if i have an antivirus, a firewall is needed or not? i think an antivirus also functions of a firewall.

[tecktalk]

yeah antivirus does so bt nt like antispyware....!!

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[Maurice]

Malware can with a number of different names e.g. viruse, trojans, adware, spyware, etc

Viruses are unwanted pieces of program code that can make a PC unusable by deleteing files or encrypting them and so on. Some will search your Pc for email addresses and generates masses of spam emails and send it out to any addresses it can find.

Trojans are programs that claim to be one thing but in fact carry a hidden payload. You may go to a website that claims that your PC is infected with many viruses and if you accept what it says it will load a Trojan onto your system claiming to be an anti-virus package which actually goes and infects your PC with even worse things such as:

Spyware - these are programs that 'spy' on you. They can run hidden in the background logging which web sites you visit, record usernames & passwords for secure sites such as online banking and they will transmit this information to criminals in Russia who can then gain access to your bank accounts and clean you out.

Adware loads up your Pc with advertising. It will usually hijack youe web browser so that you always go to a specific site which will be advertising things like viagra and pornography etc.

A Firewall is a program (or even a piece of hardware) that hides you from the Internet. It will monitor all unsolicited inbound traffic and block unwanted accesses. It will also monitor all attempts to connect outgoing to the Internet and help you spot any trojans/spyware etc trying to send information out.


Some Anti-virus packages are combined with a Firewall. Both McAfee and Norton do these for home users.

[Imanuel4u]

Spyware is computer software that is installed surreptitiously on a personal computer to intercept or take partial control over the user's interaction with the computer, without the user's informed consent.

[Monalisa]

Antivirus software (or anti-virus) is computer software used to identify and remove computer viruses, as well as many other types of harmful computer software, collectively referred to as malware. While the first antivirus software was designed exclusively to combat computer viruses (hence "antivirus"), modern antivirus software can protect computer systems against a wide range of malware, including worms, phishing attacks, rootkits, and Trojans.

A firewall is an integrated collection of security measures designed to prevent unauthorized electronic access to a networked computer system. It is also a device or set of devices configured to permit, deny, encrypt, decrypt, or proxy all computer traffic between different security domains based upon a set of rules and other criteria.

Anti-Spyware contains the list of all known legitimate anti-spyware programs that can effectively detect and remove spyware, adware threats and other kinds of computer
parasites from the system.

Spyware is computer software that is installed surreptitiously on a personal computer to intercept or take partial control over the user's interaction with the computer, without the user's informed consent.

In response to the emergence of spyware, a small industry has sprung up dealing in anti-spyware software. Running anti-spyware software has become a widely recognized element of computer security best practices for Microsoft Windows desktop computers.