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Antispyware and antivirus software are designed to find and remove malicious software, but may have different resources for finding them. Antispyware specifically targets spyware, while antivirus targets viruses. Both use signature databases, but for different types of malware. Full-featured programs often combine both types of software.
The difference between antispyware and antivirus software can depend a lot on the particular software in question and how they are designed and developed. Anti-spyware programs are typically designed to specifically find spyware on a computer and remove it. This is quite similar to antivirus programs, which are developed to find and remove or isolate viruses on a computer. While both antispyware and antivirus software are built to remove malicious software, they may have different resources for finding these types of programs, including the database of different signatures that each type of program can access.
Depending on the type of software in question, the differences between anti-spyware and antivirus software may be slight or non-existent. Anti-spyware programs are developed to find spyware on a computer and then remove it so that it no longer poses a risk to the computer user. Spyware typically refers to programs that can end up on a computer, which then monitor your activities for a variety of reasons. This can include keyloggers that track keystrokes made by one user and then send a record of those keystrokes to someone else.
The use of anti-spyware and antivirus software is usually intended to find and remove these types of threats. Anti-spyware software, in particular, can search for spyware programs on a computer. This is often done using a spyware signature database, which programs on a computer are compared to during a scan. When a match is found, the spyware is marked for removal by the program or computer user.
An antivirus program typically looks for viruses on a computer, which are programs that are installed on a computer and cause a wide variety of problems. This can range from deleting information on a drive to overheating the system and physically damaging computer components. Antivirus programs typically use the same methods that antispyware software uses, although they may allow difficult programs to be quarantined rather than simply deleted.
The main difference between anti-spyware and antivirus software is the type of database each program can access. Anti-spyware programs usually have a record of various spyware signatures that they use for reference, while anti-virus programs have signatures for viruses instead. Many full-featured programs give users more tools to deal with malicious software, often combining anti-spyware and antivirus software. These programs typically access a large database of signatures for many types of malware and then provide the user with the appropriate tools to deal with the threats they detect.
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