What’s the Difference Between Spyware and Malware?

Spyware and malware are both considerable threats when it comes to your computer’s security. Whether it’s your home computer used for general surfing, or a whole network of computers used in your business or place of work – when malware or spyware infect, they can cause considerable damage.

Spambrella offers a range of malware protection services designed to help protect you from both malware and spyware – but what are they?

Knowing what malware is

You may be wondering – “well, what is malware? And how does it differ from spyware?”, and the answer is reasonably simple. Both are computer viruses, that are most often transmitted via email.

Malware, as the name implies, is somewhat more directly malicious in intent. Malware includes viruses that are designed to make critical alterations to a computer system, such as changing passwords or even freezing the system altogether. If a computer is a part of a network, certain forms of malware can infect the whole network despite being initially downloaded onto one machine.

Malware is intended to directly disrupt the user from accessing the system. You will almost certainly know if your computer has become infected with malware. Viruses, trojans, and worms are all common types of malware, designed to alter the way the user is able to use the machine.

Knowing what spyware is

So that’s malware, but what is spyware? Spyware is designed to collect information about the user, which can then be read by the author of the virus, potentially giving them access to confidential information.

The difference with spyware is that it’s designed to be as unobtrusive as possible, as the virus author wants you to continue using the machine as normally as possible. Spyware can read passwords and sensitive information, like bank or credit card details, record keystrokes, and monitor general browsing.

Not all spyware is malicious. Some employees deliberately install it so they can monitor employee browsing habits, and companies can use it to try and specifically tailor their advertising to users.

How can Spambrella help?

Spyware and malware are different, but they both share one common trait – you don’t want them in your system.

To help protect you from the effects of both malware and spyware, Spambrella offers a range of email protection services. Email is by far the most common way for spyware and malware to be transmitted, so protecting your email account and the way you use it can go a long way to protecting you from both.

For example, Spambrella can offer services such as email attachment filtering, to filter your email attachments and warn you of any suspicious content. Other features include MLX Anti-Spam filtering, instant replay email recovery, and even the ability to block inbound emails coming from specific countries.

These services are designed to help you maximize the use of an email account, either by yourself or by your employees, without worrying about falling into the trap of downloading malware or spyware.

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