Being online comes with lots of issues. Hacking, Credential theft, malicious attacks, data loss, reduction in the speed of your gadget, and financial loss are a few of the many problems that online users face. To protect you and your data, numerous solutions are available. Anti-Virus, Anti-Malware, Anti-Spam, and Anti-Ransomware are the most common solutions you can use to prevent any malicious attacks. You must understand the difference between these and know when to apply the specific digital medication. I will help you in understanding this.
What are Virus, Malware, Spam, and Ransomware?
Well before applying the solution, you must understand what the issue is. So, here we go with problems first…
Virus
A virus is a well-crafted program that is coded with the capability of copying itself and attaching to another program. This characteristic of such a piece of code can bring extreme damage to a PC, Laptop, mobile phone, tablet, or any device that works on an OS. The outcome is that your system gets corrupted, data gets destroyed and sometimes you are unable to use it. It can result in loss of business and trust as well.
Worms
Worms work in the same way viruses do. They replicate, making functional copies of themselves to damage a system. Worms work independently unlike a virus, without any need to latch on to another program. A worm programmer programs them to exploit a vulnerability of the host system or sends a socially engineered message to tempt and click a worm.
Trojans
A Trojan is a destructive program that seems totally harmless and genuine software. The attackers use social engineering to lure the users into installing and running them. Once activated, Trojans can affect your system by being irritating and highly destructive to credentials and data. Sometimes attackers create Trojans to identify a system’s vulnerability and device back door for giving access to the system to the attackers.
Adware
Adware is typically software that gets installed on a target system with the intention to follow a user’s online activities. This software then keeps on popping advertisements according to your online behavior. It usually uses up the resources of the target system, slowing it down significantly. It can also be a carrier of key loggers and spyware to hijack your crucial data and resulting in a lot of damage to your system or financial state.
Spam
Spam is more related to messaging systems and email systems. The unwanted messages or emails landing up in your inbox about anything in the world that can attract your fancy are spam. It can be product promotions, invitations, offers, or obnoxious content.
Ransomware
This is just like the kidnapping of your online presence in form of a website or a blog. Hackers and criminals in the online world have found new means of extortion. Ransomware is the piece of code that crashes a website. Ransomware comes mostly as a friendly message that looks quite a bargain to trap you. If your click the offered link, it will infect your website to the point of crashing or disabling content. To regain your data back, you have to pay the hefty money demanded as ransom by the attacker. The payment is usually in Bitcoins. Wannacry was recently in news due to the globally spread ransomware attacks on various business organizations
Malware
Malware is a broader term that covers almost any malicious software that affects the working of any system or gadget. It includes viruses, Spyware, Trojans, Worms, Adware, Spam, and Ransomware.
Difference between Anti-Virus, Anti-Malware, Anti-Spam and Anti-Ransomware
So, now you know the common infections that may infect your system, you are ready to learn about the treatment. For all the mentioned problems, Anti-Virus, Anti-Malware, Anti-Spam, and Anti-Ransomware software provides protection against different threats. So here is a comparison of all these.
| Anti-Virus | Anti-Malware | Anti-Spam | Anti-Ransomware | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deals with | Existing, identified and well established threats like Worms, Trojans, Viruses | Possible, unforeseen threats like malware that acquire different forms and pose zero-day exploits | Infected emails and attachments | Ransomware threats coming with messages and emails |
| Protects against | Persistent, dangerous but predictable threats | Newest, unpredictable and highly dangerous threats like spyware, adware, keyloggers | Spam mail and messages by blocking emails with infected attachments or suspicious links for fake and phishing websites. | Real-time online threats coming with email and while surfing |
| Speed | Slow | Fast | Fast | Fast |
| Threat Sources it handles | Pen drive, USB, Email Attachments | Surfing and browsing Internet | Email Systems | Email, Surfing, and browsing Internet |
| Ease of use | Easy | Easy | Easy | EasyDeals with |
| Works along with | Can work independently | Designed to support an antivirus. | Can work independently and also with Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware | Can work independently and also with Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware |
Below are the simplest things you can do to be safe from threats.
- Do not open an email that has a suspicious title
- Do not click a link in an email whose title and content do not match.
Also Read: Best Email Encryption for business and Individuals
- Do not download anything that looks exceptionally tempting
- Scan any file that you need to download, even if it takes a few seconds more. Let the scanning process complete.
- Scan your USB drives-ALWAYS.
- Update the Antivirus, Anti-Malware, Anti-Spam, and Anti-Ransomware software when the vendor asks you to.
- Don’t download attachments sent by unknown people.
I hope that this write-up will help you in staying safe from any kind of threat. Do share your experience with us.
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