Archive for June 17th, 2010

1. You can receive an infected email.
2. You can download something that is infected.
3. You can visit an infected website.

There is another way though to become infected and that is by being connected to the internet and not being protected because there are programs that search out unprotected computers and then, from afar, infect them.

While there is no 100-percent effective preventitive there are some good rules-of-thumb that you can follow:

1. Have good anti-malware software on your machine.
2. Keep it up-to-date.
3. Don’t open any attachments you are unsure about.
4. Don’t download free stuff from unknown sources.
5. Don’t visit free music sites, porn sites, or free software sites.

A fourth solution is to turn off your computer, disconnect it from the internet, and store it in a closet.

Yeah, I know. Not very practical but this is just my way of saying you can’t be too careful. So let’s look at each of these in-depth.

Have good anti-malware software on your machine

I begin with the types of anti-malware. These are:

• anti-virus – Obviously this protects your computer against viruses. Typically these come in two forms: free and annual subscription. Usually the annual subscription versions are more complete and cost anwhere from $29 to $59 per year. Some major brands are: AVG*, Norton Anti-Virus from Symantec, Vipre from Sunbelt software, McAffee Anti-Virus, Trend Micro, Panda, and Microsoft Essential Security. AVG has a free version and the Microsoft product is free.

• anti-spyware – This protects you against spyware. What is the difference between spyware and a virus? Sometimes nothing. Spyware collects information about how you are using your computer and does this without your consent. Often spyware is placed on your computer by a virus so you can see the confusion between the two terms. Again, there are some well-known brands: Spy Doctor* from PC Tools, Super Anti-Spyware, Spybot, and Adaware*. Both Adaware and Spy Doctor have free versions.

• anti-spam – Spam is simply the term used for emails that you did not want to receive. You’ve probably seen emails advertising Viagra, emails telling you that you can have millions of dollars, plus many many more. Anti-spam software works to keep these messages from your inbox. At first you may think that spam might be annoying but not so harmful. Consider that many have viruses attached and are looking to infect your system. Common brands of anti-spam software are: Mail Washer, Spam Sleuth and others.

Since you will want to protect your PC from all three threats you probably should consider a brand that offers a suite that includes all three. Symantec, McAffee, Panda, Sunbelt Software, Trend Micro, and others all offer suites. These are most cost-effective and while more expensive that just anti-virus software are well worth their cost.

How do these products work?

One of the major differences between free versions of software and their paid counterpart is that many of the free products are missing certain key features or have a lesser version of those features.

One feature that is important is real-time protection. What is real-time protection? You are said to have real-time protection if your software is continually monitoring for threats. For example, an email comes in containing a virus. Good anti-virus software with real-time protection will notice the arrival of the email message and immediately, without any effort on your part, remove the virus. The sames goes for spyware and spam.

Without real-time protection the software will only look for problems when you manualy run it. The rest of the time it is inactive.

For example, lets compare the free and paid versions of Adaware. The free version looks for spyware and even has some limited real-time protection. The paid version has everything the free version has plus: full antivirus protection, real-time registry and process protection, scheduler, and one more important thing– free technical support. And that product costs $26.95 per year.

So while it is not necessarily true that the most expensive product is the most feature rich, it is true that the more feature rich the product the better chance you have of being protected.

Finally, if you want to protect yourself go to google and search for anti of these terms: anti-malware, anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-spam and you will find links to all of the major brands.

So how do I get rid of malware on my computer?

The answer depends on how severe your situation is. If you have a second computer, you can download protective software from the internet and then store that on a usb flash drive. Then you can plug the flash drive into your infected machine and run the software. That may get rid of the problem.

Sometimes all you need to do is run a scan of your computer using already installed software.

Beyond this it gets tricky and may require you contacting a professional. Here’s why. Many malware so infect your machine that it is impossible to connect to the internet to download software to remove the infection. Also in some cases the malware simply allow it to look like software is cleaning your computer but when finished your problem is still present.

Your best bet for any but the simplest problem is to give a call to your local professional.