A virus is a specific type of malware that is made to replicate and spread out to infect the system. Malware is a broad term that encompasses a lot of malicious code like virus, spyware, adware, worm, Trojan, and nagware. Ever since the creation of viruses, protecting systems became important. Thus, the creation of the antivirus came about. An antivirus protects the system from viruses, and there are specific ones that go well with Windows and others with Mac systems.

Spam and anti-spam
The biggest problems these days are unwanted programs that, when downloaded, bombard the system with advertisements that slow the system down. These programs fool your system into thinking that they are important, but they are, in fact, there to steal your information or take money.

Unsolicited email is called spam and it is usually commercial in nature. It has specific features that describe it–a signature, if you may. It is designed to cause harm. A virus and spam are filtered in a different manner. The anti-spam may catch a virus if it looks like it.

• Spam mails are junk mails. They are mostly marketing messages that are sent without the user’s consent. It is sent to people in the form of batch and blast. Many are filtered automatically and appear in junk folders
• Phishing emails are another form of spam. They are used to collect personal and financial data or infect the computer with malware. It is important to know that anti-spam does not always stop phishing emails.

Advanced spam filters, or anti-spam filters give users more control over messages marked as junk. Anti-spam is the software, process, or any hardware that is used to combat spam or keep spam from entering the system. On the other hand, opt-in email is an anti-spam process, while a Bayesian filter is an anti-spam software.

Most states in the country have laws that directly or indirectly pertain to spam mail. These laws are connected to other state laws that are made for telemarketing, commercial solicitation through text messages. Many state laws address unlawful business and trade practices these apply to spam emails.

Anti-spam programs cover a big number of files that can be scanned. Anti-spam works in a statistical method while others use heuristics/predictive algorithms. Sorting email is done in a sophisticated way by monitoring IP addresses, email signatures, other data, which reduces spam.

Viruses and antivirus
A virus is a form of malware designed to corrupt or access information stored on computers. This software is hidden in downloads from websites or email attachments. It is not clear when a computer becomes infected, it is important to read the warning signs–poor connectivity, slow computer, restricted access to your own accounts/files, and signs of unauthorized access/password-protected accounts.

Antivirus software detects infections by looking out for similarities between previous and existing viruses in the “virus library.” It is important to keep the library up to date at individual level, a multi-layered anti-virus is first line of defense.

Some antivirus programs have antispyware protection, and the dual-purpose software has its advantages and vice versa. For complete protection, it requires that the user should invest in a good antivirus and a good anti spyware. An antivirus protects you from computer viruses, while anti-spam protects you from those who spam you with unsolicited electronic messages.

An antivirus scans for viruses and malware. It examines files on your system for data patterns similarity to identified on regular basis the database is updated to contain the latest information on known viruses.