What is the difference between malware and spyware?

Are they the same thing?


If I have an anti malware software would I also need an anti spyware software? Or would my anti malware software detect spyware too?|||Malware, a portmanteau from the words malicious and software, is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner's informed consent. The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code.[1]





Many computer users are unfamiliar with the term, and often use "computer virus" for all types of malware, including true viruses.





Software is considered malware based on the perceived intent of the creator rather than any particular features. Malware includes computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, most rootkits, spyware, dishonest adware, crimeware and other malicious and unwanted software. In law, malware is sometimes known as a computer contaminant, for instance in the legal codes of several American states, including California and West Virginia.[2] [3]





Malware is not the same as defective software, that is, software which has a legitimate purpose but contains harmful bugs.





Preliminary results from Symantec published in 2008 suggested that "the release rate of malicious code and other unwanted programs may be exceeding that of legitimate software applications."[4] According to F-Secure, "As much malware [was] produced in 2007 as in the previous 20 years altogether."[5] Malware's most common pathway from criminals to users is through the Internet, by email and the World Wide Web.[6]





Spyware is computer software that is installed surreptitiously on a personal computer to intercept or take partial control over the user's interaction with the computer, without the user's informed consent.





While the term spyware suggests software that secretly monitors the user's behavior, the functions of spyware extend well beyond simple monitoring. Spyware programs can collect various types of personal information, such as Internet surfing habits, sites that have been visited, but can also interfere with user control of the computer in other ways, such as installing additional software, redirecting Web browser activity, accessing websites blindly that will cause more harmful viruses, or diverting advertising revenue to a third party. Spyware can even change computer settings, resulting in slow connection speeds, different home pages, and loss of Internet or other programs. In an attempt to increase the understanding of spyware, a more formal classification of its included software types is captured under the term privacy-invasive software.





In response to the emergence of spyware, a small industry has sprung up dealing in anti-spyware software. Running anti-spyware software has become a widely recognized element of computer security best practices for Microsoft Windows desktop computers. A number of jurisdictions have passed anti-spyware laws, which usually target any software that is surreptitiously installed to control a user's computer. The US Federal Trade Commission has placed on the Internet a page of advice to consumers about how to lower the risk of spyware infection, including a list of "dos" and "don'ts."[1]|||when it comes to damage they both are the same





but as to what the damage is.......





spyware (read: spy) is a program that when installed into ur pc, may give other users access to ur pc....





malware simply makes ur pc go nuts (malicious software)|||Mal is just french or latin for "bad".





An anti-malware program should deal with spyware too.