Is it a virus, or spyware?

The average Internet user has difficulty distinguishing viruses from spyware.

The differences are indeed subtle. Both are malicious software (malware): uninvited, intrusive, and potentially destructive.

Both have the capacity to capture and destroy information, ruin performance, and disrupt business.

Viruses and spyware programs are delivered via web visits and downloads, as well as email attachments. Both can attack systems through many vectors.

Spyware tricks have become increasingly devious, making spyware and adware stick to machines longer, more difficult to remove and sometimes impossible to see with ordinary methods. Many spyware programs have multiple resuscitators (meaning if you delete the problem file it will come back again), increasing numbers of randomly named files, even randomly named folders. Internet Explorer security settings are being changed by spyware and hosts files are being hijacked. Recently there's been an upsurge in installations of keyloggers (steal your passwords and credit card info) and spam bots (sending spam email out from your computer) along with your garden variety of adware. Now add rootkits to that list. Let's look back at the top 10 tricks of 2005…