We’ll often hear the terms virus and malware included together in discussions about mainstream cybersecurity threats. When we research the technology market for cybersecurity solutions, we’re usually looking for a category of technology labeled “antivirus software” to mitigate both threat types, and this can further complicate our understanding of the difference between these terms.

Thankfully, we can draw a very clear line in the sand between what these two cybersecurity buzzwords really mean.

When we talk about a virus, we’re specifically describing a malicious program that spreads throughout a system by replicating itself and injecting code into various files and programs.

When we talk about malware, we’re broadly referring to any type of malicious software – including viruses. The term "malware" literally conjoins the terms “malicious” and “software”; it was coined decades ago to simplify the label we apply to programs designed to harm our systems.

Even when we fully understand the differences between these terms, however, we might still feel a bit confused. If malware is a category that includes viruses, why do we so often pair these terms together when we discuss cybersecurity solutions? Shouldn’t "malware" alone be enough to describe any type of threatening program we might encounter?

While it’s true that viruses are a subcategory of malware, the differences between how viruses and other forms of malware attack our systems are very significant. Malicious programs that replicate themselves at scale create a host of problems that more “static” forms of malware don’t create, and vice versa.

Let’s consider, for example, the differences between a polymorphic virus (i.e., a virus that continually changes its code to avoid detection) and spyware (i.e., malicious software that tracks our behavior and shares our information with external servers).

While polymorphic viruses and spyware are both types of malware, their behavior in our system differs tremendously. Consequently, detecting each threat type comes with its own unique challenges. An active polymorphic virus might compromise myriad important files in a short period before we catch it, while spyware might run quietly in the background of our system for months without our knowledge.

The makeup (i.e., signatures and behavioral characteristics) of files bearing polymorphic viruses will be extremely different from files containing spyware, and the vectors threat actors use to transmit each threat type will likely differ as well. As such, it’s important that any antivirus software we choose to implement acknowledges that both viruses and other forms of malware are covered by its threat detection policies.

Summary

The terms virus and malware are often mentioned together in discussions about common cybersecurity threats. While viruses are actually a category of malware, the differences between the virus subcategory and other malware subcategories are significant enough to warrant actively distinguishing between them.

Virus and Malware Detection with Cloudmersive

The Cloudmersive Virus Scan API is designed to scan files for both virus and malware threats. This includes referencing files against a continuously updated list of more than 17 million virus and malware signatures and performing rigorous behavioral analysis in a virus and malware threat detection sandbox.

Additionally, the Advanced iteration of the Cloudmersive Virus Scan API extends coverage beyond virus and malware threats, performing in-depth content verification to identify macro-enabled files, invalid files, scripts, executables, and a variety of other threatening content types. Threats in this category are often obfuscated to breach traditional antivirus threat detection policies and used in zero-day attacks to catch victims off guard.

For more information on Cloudmersive products and services, please feel free to reach out to a member of our team.