Not All “Viruses” Are Viruses: 10 Malware Terms Explained

[Venustus]

Most people seem to call every type of malware a “virus”, but that isn’t technically accurate. You’ve probably heard of many more terms beyond virus: malware, worm, Trojan, rootkit, keylogger, spyware, and more. But what do all these terms mean?

These terms aren’t just used by geeks. They make their way into even mainstream news stories about the latest web security problems and tech scares. Understanding them will help you understand the dangers you’ve heard about.

Interesting article thought I'd share:
http://www.howtogeek.com/174985/not-all-viruses-are-viruses-10-malware-terms-explained/

(If this is a repost please delete)

 

[Gnosis]

While AV's target most of those these days, I believe it is important to distinguish between the different types.

For instance, a worm, unlike a virus, needs no host program to spread. As a result, it can roam your local intranet and affect all satellites while only being invited via one satellite.
A trojan is a package to be opened. It may contain worms, viruses, rootkits, etc, and act as a dropper that distributes many different malwares. A rootkit is loaded with all kinds of malicious goodies with the goal being to attack the root, or Kernel/Ring Zero (0). Then there are--allegedly--rootkit/virus hybrids that work to spread rootkits with the speed and coverage that is quite disturbing. Then you have polymorphic/metamorphic worms, viruses, shellcodes, etc. Then there is buffer overrun, and a whole slew of exploits to break into your system in order to distribute the nasties.

 

[Littlebits]

Adware, exploits and Trojans which also includes (fake AV's and Ransomware) are the most common types of malware that infect home users. The other types of malware usually target large companies.

Thanks.