What is Malware?

Malware is Malicious software, written to do “bad stuff”( destroy, modify or steal data) to your computer,

without your permission, to modify your software or data, to steal data such as credit card information, login to banks and passwords, etc.  They come with different names, and there is no one easy solution to prevent these problems. They are all an invasion of privacy. There is continuing efforts for legislators to write laws, but this offers little protection, but does provide some penalties, if the bad guys are caught.

MALWARE – What Forms

Malware – What Forms?

Virus	Worm	Trojan Horse
Computer program or script, written to destroy, modify or steal data, and to move from file to file and/or computer to computer. The damage intended may be merely to write messages, destroy, modify or steal data. They can even go so far as to “take over” your computer, and use it as a “zombie” as part of a botnet.	Type of virus that propagates through a network. This is more of a problem for businesses, that have large networks. But, our home networks are not exempt!	Similar to a virus, but is often a package of spies and viruses ( think of the original Trojan horse, with a group of soldiers). In some cases, you could remove all the spies and viruses, only to have them all return after you re-boot! This happens if you did not find the Trojan horse itself!
Spyware	Phishing (Spoofing)	Fake Anti-Virus (Scareware)
Category of unwanted cookies and/or programs that track your habits and tailor advertising (pop-ups), or alter your browser settings (browser helper objects) so that you would go where they want you to go, as opposed to where you want to go. Some even send information back to their servers, such as shopping habits, or worse, credit card numbers, passwords, logins, etc	Phishing isn’t “exactly” malware, but it’s intent is the same! They want to steal something, written to do “bad stuff”( destroy, modify or steal data) to your computer, without your permission, How? By creating a web page (e-mail) that looks real, in order to trick you into providing valuable information, such as social security number, Pin number, etc. See Phishing Scams for more info.	What are they? They appear on your computer as a warning that you have a bunch of infections, and then, even if you try to ignore them, they won’t go away! They are one of the worst forms of malware! They then ask (demand!) money to fix these “viruses”, Take your money, then leave you infected! Their names? There are hundreds of names! Don’t send money! That is all they are after! For more info see Fake Anti-Viruses (Rogue Security)

Do You Really Need Antivirus Software?

This article has a lot of truth to it! It explains why I prefer the free Anti-Virus stuff!

Prevention of Malware

AntiVirus Software

This is the most important category of malware protection that must be installed on your computer. The most popular is from Norton (Symantec) and McAfee. There are other popular brands available …..  This website emphasizes Free Antivirus programs, because they work well, and most of us want to hang on to our money!

Spyware – Removal and Prevention Software

Spybot is a well known free package (donations accepted – some of my customers have gladly sent in donations, because they were so pleased with the program). Another popular and free program is AdAware .

One thing I’ve noticed on many of the computers I’ve seen infected, where advertisements from (what I believe are bogus) Spyware removal tools. Why? Because often times customer report that the computer was working well, until they have this ad posted on their computer! In one case, the ad was virtual impossible to remove! (Note: nothing is impossible, but many are impractical!) They are asking you to send them money to remove the infections they just put on your PC. Does this sound like someone you should trust? An example of this is AV2009, or AV360

Firewall

A firewall is designed to prevent intrusions (unwanted visitors from the internet). If you are on the internet, your PC can and will talk to other computers. But you only want to talk to the sites that you picked. But your PC will respond to any request, even from the bad guys! A firewall is meant as a security guard at your gate!

A router has a built in hardware firewall! You may have bought a router so that you can use multiple computers on one internet connection, but you also have a pretty good firewall!

Windows XP and Vista have a built-in firewall function. You should be using this, when possible. Sometimes other software firewalls will turn it off, to avoid interference.  Software firewalls tend to be very domineering!

Caution when using software firewalls
Software firewalls consume a lot of PC overhead! Older PC’s can be very slow with software firewalls installed. In some cases, the customer was faced with a dilemma, of having very poor performance, or remove the firewall! If your PC has 3Ghz or better, this performance impact should be acceptable.  Firewalls are typically part of Internet Security Suites.

Internet Security Suites

This is a combination of Antivirus software, Anti-Spyware software, Firewall and Spam protection.  It sounds simple, right?!  Well, it’s not! There is a broad spectrum of packages available, and of varying quality. Often, PC repair people are loath to recommend a particular vendor (unless they happen to sell the software, then of course they push their own) because it is a jungle out there! There is bogus software all over the place. I’ve included a couple of sites that I use, to help review these packages, and this can help you to decide!

For a comprehensive discussion and Reviews of Anti-Virus programs go to Malware Protection Reviews