What's the difference between antivirus and anti-malware?

Most people are familiar with antivirus by now - it's the software that keeps your computer safe from malicious hackers and nasty programs. Nowadays, however, everyone's talking about malware and ransomware, and you could be fooled into thinking that your old security package is useless.

Things can get confusing what with all this industry jargon, so we've broken down exactly what the difference is between anti-malware and antivirus software.

What is malware?

First, lets look at what the words 'antivirus' and 'anti-malware' actually mean. Malware is a portmanteau of the words 'malicious' and 'software' - it essentially refers to any harmful program or piece of code.

A virus is a specific form of malware, designed to spread as quickly and as widely as possible by replicating itself, infecting as many different files and machines as it can.

While viruses fall under the general umbrella of 'malware', it is not the only example. Other forms of malware include Trojans, worms, ransomware, spyware, keyloggers and more.

What is antivirus software?

So, if viruses are just one type of malware, that must mean that antivirus software doesn't fight all the other kinds, right? Well, not exactly.

Malware first rose to prominence in the early days of the internet, in tandem with the explosion in domestic connectivity. More people with internet access meant that malware could spread more easily, and the most common form of malware was the humble virus.

Thanks to flashy and exuberant examples like Cascade and Phantom, viruses received a lot of media attention. Cyber securities capitalised on this, and began to market their products as 'antivirus software'. Despite the fact that many of them protected against other forms of malware too, the name stuck.

Today, so-called 'antivirus' programs will protect against a wide range of different types of malware. In fact, viruses themselves are becoming increasingly uncommon, as more cyber criminals abandon them in favour of more effective methods.

Is antivirus the same thing as anti-malware?

Confusingly, antivirus and anti-malware tools aren't exactly the same thing. Anti-malware programs - also known as malware removal tools - are slightly different in function to traditional antivirus.

Antivirus focuses on prevention, protecting a machine by stopping it from becoming infected in the first place. Anti-malware, however, is geared towards rooting out and destroying malicious programs that have already been downloaded and activated. While there is a lot of crossover between the two tools, many security experts advise using both antivirus and anti-malware tools in order to maximise protection.

This article originally appeared at itpro.co.uk