PC Magazine: Viruses, Spyware, and Malware: What's the Difference?

February 8, 2011
By Neil J. Rubenking

A flu virus spreads by infecting your body's cells and turning them into virus-replication factories. In a similar fashion a computer virus injects its code into an innocent program; when the program runs the virus code runs too, spreading the virus to other programs or computers. USC researcher Fred Cohen coined the term "computer virus" back in 1984. These days, though, viruses are just one among many types of malicious programs you may encounter. Your antivirus software should handle all of them.

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