1.3 Difference Between Spyware and Adware

Adware is a form of spyware but, unlike spyware, adware’s intent is generally not malicious. Adware just wants to make money.  Adware keeps track of the sites you visit and then uses this information to send you related advertisements, usually in the form of pop-ups.

The main differences between adware and spyware are:

·         Adware usually shows itself; spyware will not.

·         Spyware is not beneficial to you and doesn’t even try to sell you something.

·         Adware is usually easy to uninstall; spyware is not.

·         Spyware tracks where you surf and sends its findings to another location, and – again- not just so it can sell you something. 

The advertising is mostly a nuisance because, I don’t know about you, I don’t want to get an insurance or mortgage quote, find out about debt consolidation and order Viagra from a pop-up that just interrupted my surfing. Besides, they are usually from questionable sources. 

There is also a pop-up that gets the award from me for being the most ironic. You’ve more than likely seen it. It’s the one that looks like a real Windows system errors pop-up telling you that you need a spyware removal program! 

Adware is big business. Many companies rake in millions of dollars through these backdoors and they would not be using these tactics if they did not work.  Somewhere out there in cyberspace, millions of people are clicking on the ads either through misunderstanding, curiosity, or maybe even on purpose.

<< Chapter 1.2 - Different Types of Spyware | Chapter 1.4- Spyware Versus Computer Virus >>