Words you need to know:Virus: A computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer. The term "virus" is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, including but not limited to adware and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability. A true virus can spread from one computer to another (in some form of executable code) when its host is taken to the target computer; for instance because a user sent it over a network or the Internet, or carried it on a removable medium such as a floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB drive(
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Malware: Malware, short for malicious software, (sometimes referred to as pestware) is a software designed to harm or secretly access 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.
(citation)Adware: Adware, or advertising-supported software, is any software package which automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertisements to a computer. These advertisements can be in the form of a pop-up. The object of the Adware is to generate revenue for its author. Adware, by itself, is harmless; however, some adware may come with integrated spyware such as keyloggers and other privacy-invasive software.
(citation)Spyware: Spyware is a type of malware that can be installed on computers, and which collects small pieces of information about users without their knowledge. The presence of spyware is typically hidden from the user, and can be difficult to detect. Typically, spyware is secretly installed on the user's personal computer. Sometimes, however, spywares such as keyloggers are installed by the owner of a shared, corporate, or public computer on purpose in order to secretly monitor other users.
(citation)Tracking Cookie: A tracking cookie is a HTTP cookie that advertisers use to track what webpages you access for advertising purposes. For example: If John visits Bill's site that has an advertisement on it, the company who put that advertisement on there puts a cookie on John's computer. Then John visits a site about web hosting and visits another site about web hosting. The cookie uses that information so that when John goes back to Bill's site, there is an advertisement about Web Hosting now.
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