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Understanding tech language: The difference between malware and a virus |
September 19, 2013
While cleaning up an infected PC, Flingwing asked the Antivirus & Security Software forum to explain the difference between malware and viruses.
Depending on how technically correct you want to be, viruses are a subset of malware, or the two words mean the same thing.
The word malware (malicious software) describes any piece of code designed to infect your computer (or mobile device) and make it do things that you don't want it to do, such as mass-mail spam or steal your banking passwords. Trojans, worms, and rootkits are all types of malware.
And so is a virus, in its most technically-correct meaning. A virus is malicious code that spreads by infecting existing files, similar to the way a biological virus spreads by infecting living cells.
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Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2048261/understanding-tech-language-the-difference-between-malware-and-a-virus.html#tk.rss_howto
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