Computer Infections

2011 Personal Internet Security Virus

There has been a new malware being spread around lately. The virus does seem like a legitimate program and the warnings do look like they come from windows security. This fools many people into downloading it not realizing that it is malware. Once the malware is downloaded there are warning messages that come up saying that your computer is infected with many viruses and it to click to remove all viruses. Once you click on remove all viruses a website opens up and it where you can buy software to get rid of the viruses. DO NOT BUY this software it is a scam and it will not solve the problem. If you do buy person internet security you will lose your money and open yourself up to credit card fraud. There are tutorials and instructions online to get remove the virus; in the online instructions on many websites tell you to delete the virus by going into your program files. This process is difficult and you can possibly delete important files that your computer needs to operate. If your antivirus does not detect the virus when you do a full computer scan you will have to download a malware removal tool to at least try to rid your computer of the malware. You may have trouble going to antivirus websites depending on how much the virus has infected your computer so you may have to download the program on another computer and then save the program to an USB flash drive. To get rid of the virus you might have to put your computer in safe mode so the virus will stop executing so you can delete all the infected files. If you cannot remove the virus you will have to get windows reinstalled. To avoid this virus don't run any programs unless you trust the website.

Trojan Horse

Beast a Trojan horse program

Many people mistake Trojans as but they often don't spread from computer to computer. Trojans are spread by the user downloading a piece of software that looks legitimate before that install and looks like a legitimate piece of software but instead lets another user access to your computer. Some Trojans may change the user's desktop to display advertisements and some Trojans just install a toolbar in the web browser of the user. Other Trojan Horse infections the computer so person controlling the Trojan software can steal personal information, view the computer screen, download or upload files or log your keystrokes. Hackers don't have to be the person who distributes the virus they can scan a network to see if any computers have the Trojan installed so they can gain access to the computer. Some Trojans can be computer virus by asking a user on an instant messaging network to install the virus. There are Trojans that infect the computer and send messages to instant messenger contacts saying "here is a funny photo of you click on the link to see it" or something similar. Trojan type malware use is becoming more and popular and 83% of all viruses detected are Trojan-type malware. Luckily most times the Trojan infection is detected by anti-virus software before the software is installed so it can't cause any damage. If you suspect you accidently downloaded a Trojan and your anti-virus didn't detect it you should not open the file and have you have your anti-virus do a complete scan of your computer.

Computer Worms

Worms are one of the fastest spreading computer infections. Worms are particularly nasty because they have the ability to self replicate without human interference. Worms can send themselves to other computers. Some worms do this by sending emails without knowing it to contacts in your address book and they can also send themselves through instant messaging. Worms are not always dependent on a user opening a file. This is true with the internet worms that scan the internet for vulnerable computers. These worms attempt to make contact with vulnerable computers and gain full access of them. Worms easily penetrate most firewalls and other networks security measure. Anti-virus software does attempt to battle worms but the success of this depends on your anti-virus and what worm is trying to infect your system. The best way to protect your computer against worms is to have anti-virus software that regularly updates itself and to not open suspicious emails. You should also be cautious when opening email attachments because even a word document can be infected with worms. Like any other infection if you get it there is always a chance that it may crash your computer.