Difference between Malware and Virus

[Ritu]

Hey,
Many a time, I have read in blogs, that people use both words like malware protection and virus protection. Initially, I thought both are the same. But, now am confused. Can you let me know, what's the difference between Malware and Virus?

[Krishnan]

Malware and Viruses differ a bit, but both are related to bugs.

Malware -
Malware is mostly considered as software with malicious intent. Web-based malware is a serious threat that can hurt your website, which directly affects your business and its functions.
Worms, Trojan, Scareware are some types of malware.

Virus -
A virus is much like a trojan, worms, scareware specific form of malware. That means, the virus is a malware, but not all malware is viruses.

[Samantha]

There are different types of malware. A virus is a specific type of malware. It is a contagious piece of code that can be injected into files and folders of a website. A virus functions as a parasite. It can replicate itself and spread it into other files and folders of your website.

Malware is short for malicious software and used as a single term to refer to virus, spyware, worm, etc. Malware is designed to cause damage to a stand-alone computer or a networked PC. So wherever a malware term is used it means a program that is designed to damage your computer it may be a virus, worm, or Trojan.

The Virus is a program written to enter to your computer and damage/alter your files/data. A virus might corrupt or delete data on your computer. Viruses can also replicate themselves. A computer Virus is more dangerous than a computer worm as it makes changes or deletes your files while worms only replicate themselves without making changes to your files/data.

[Vikrant Ahuja]

Many people use the words "virus" and "malware" interchangeably. Malware is a blanket term for any malicious program, regardless of how it operates, what it's intended to do, or how it's distributed. A virus is a form of malware that replicates itself by embedding its code into other programs.

[Keeran]

Malware is a short term coined for Malicious Software, the google definition of which is "software which is specifically designed to disrupt, damage, or gain authorized access to a computer system".

Malware is capable of stealing, encrypting, or deleting sensitive data on computers, they can also be used to monitor your activities, without your permission.

Malware is a very broad term, it includes other sub-types like-Virus, Trojan, Worm, Spyware, and the latest all ransomware. All of these are a type of malware that affect the system in various ways.

A virus is a specific type of malware that can affect the system. It may be a piece of code in software that performs unwanted activities and can spread itself. Virus and worms are kinds of similar, as per my understanding, the virus is something that doesn't propagate on networks but a worm does propagate on the network and affects as many systems as it can.