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The Best Antivirus Software in 2011, According to PC Magazine

The Best Antivirus Software in 2011

Best Antivirus Software, 2011

Antivirus vendors have included “2011″ in their product names since the summer of 2010. Now that the year 2011 has actually arrived it’s time for a new look at the whole collection. Several of the latest additions attempt to crank up protection by running two different antivirus engines, and some actually succeed. This batch also brings a new Editors’ Choice for free antivirus and a new shared Editors’ Choice for commercial antivirus.

As always, when I say “antivirus” I mean a utility that protects against all kinds of malicious software, not just viruses. Trojans, spyware, rootkits, keyloggers, adware, scareware – a proper antivirus must handle all of these.

Standalone or Suite?
Many of this year’s products blur the line between standalone antivirus and security suite. In the past the presence of a personal firewall has been one defining suite element; not any more. There’s a fully-functional firewall inside Panda Antivirus Pro 2011. eScan Anti-Virus 11 and McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2011 also offer firewall protection. Norton AntiVirus 2011 doesn’t include a complete firewall, but its intrusion prevention feature is more effective against exploits than most full-blown suites.

Spam filtering is another component typically found in a suite. The spam filter built into BullGuard Antivirus 10 is reasonably accurate and unusually helpful at setup time. eScan also offers a spam filter, but it’s not something you’d want to inflict on your Inbox.

StopSign Internet Security 1.0 includes an optional firewall with spam filtering built in. None of the independent labs have tested it, though, and its performance in my own malware blocking and removal tests was so poor that I didn’t bother evaluating those optional features.

BitDefender Antivirus Pro 2011 offers full remote management of other BitDefender installations across the network. McAfee can monitor other installations remotely and fix problems. Panda and Norton can at least let you know when another installation has problems, though they won’t fix those problems remotely.

BitDefender includes a very effective phishing prevention tool, as does G Data AntiVirus 2011. The LinkScanner component in AVG Anti-Virus Free 2011 also works to block phishing sites, as does McAfee’s SiteAdvisor. AVG and Norton both scan the links on your Facebook pages to protect you from Facebook scams and viruses. BitDefender and Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2011 both check your system for security vulnerabilities, though BitDefender takes the concept a bit farther.

Outpost Antivirus Pro 7.0 and BitDefender can block transmission of user-defined private data, a feature usually found only in suites. Ad-Aware Pro Internet Security 9.0, AVG, Kaspersky, and McAfee will tune system performance and wipe out traces of computer and Internet use. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that the product is “only” an antivirus, not a full suite.

The true standalone antivirus isn’t dead, however. For example, F-Secure Anti-Virus 2011 sticks to the business of virus protection without any sign of morphing into a mini-suite.

Twin-Engine Trend
Several late-season additions aim to double your protection by using two antivirus engines, with varying degrees of success. G Data’s dual scan doesn’t take much longer than the average single-engine product, and it includes powerful phishing protection. However, it doesn’t thoroughly clean up the threats it detects, and a failed cleanup effectively killed one test system. TrustPort Antivirus 2011 ran a bit slower than G Data and failed significantly in my testing. After its alleged removal some threats were still running. In the malware blocking test a few threats that it claimed to block managed to install and launch anyway.

Double Anti-Spy Professional v2 turned in the best performance of the twin-engine antivirus tools. It scans first with one engine, then with the other, and it also requires two separate updates. It’s noticeably slow, but effective enough that it’s worth waiting for.

Adjustable Interfaces, Built-in Support
Some users want to hear about every little security event, but most prefer a product that just does the job, without making a fuss. Ad-Aware Pro appeals to both with a choice of simple or advanced mode. BitDefender goes even further. Not only can its users choose basic, intermediate or expert view, they can build a personal collection of their most-used tools.

Webroot AntiVirus with Spy Sweeper 2011 totally focuses on keeping everything as simple as possible. It updates automatically, scans while the system is idle, and interacts with the user through a completely redesigned interface. All the detail a tech-savvy user might want is available, but hidden when not needed.

The user interface for Trend Micro Titanium Antivirus + 2011 discards the standard landscape-orientation window for a skinny vertical panel that takes up minimal space. McAfee, too, has switched to a vertical interface.

Norton reserves a panel across the bottom of its main window for interaction and communication with other security components. Initially the panel shows an interactive world map of security activity, but it can also connect with Norton Safe Web for Facebook or with your Norton Online Backup account.

Built-in and automated support features grace many of these tools. BitDefender includes a search box for help topics right on its main screen; a built-in tool will gather system information and contact an agent for chat-based support. Norton’s one-click support system gathers diagnostics and offers relevant FAQs or chat-based support. Kaspersky’s built-in support tool can send diagnostic reports to the company and process purpose-built scripts to fix specific problems. Panda’s PSCAN lets remote analysts request samples and push fixes without requiring full chat-type interaction. BullGuard offers built-in access to e-mail and live chat support with a message center to manage your support interactions. eScan links to live chat and online help.

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Amazon’s AWS Used to Spread Bank Data Malware

Amazon Web Services used to spread malware

Amazon Web Services used to spread malware

A Kaspersky researcher spies some malware hosted on AWS targeting bank data.

Cyber criminals have used Amazon Web Services (AWS) accounts to spread financial data-stealing malware, a security researcher has discovered.

The malware, hosted on AWS, appeared to have emanated from Brazil, as banks within the country were targeted, said Kaspersky Lab expert Dmitry Bestuzhev.

“The evidence indicates that the criminals behind the attack are from Brazil and they used several previously registered accounts to launch the infection,” Bestuzhev said in a blog post.

The malware spotted on AWS was able to do a variety of nasty things. As a rootkit, it attempted to disable four different anti-virus programs and a special security application used by Brazilian financial institutions for online banking.

It also attempted to steal financial data from nine Brazilian and two international banks, as well as acquire Microsoft Live Messenger credentials.

At the time of publication, Amazon had not confirmed whether the accounts used to spread the malware had been deactivated.

The findings came after some reports indicated hackers who hit Sony in April had used AWS as a platform.

Last month, Citrix chief technology officer (CTO) Simon Crosby claimed the public cloud was a safer place to store data than the private cloud.

The public cloud may also be a safer place for cyber criminals to operate, however.

“I believe legitimate cloud services will continue to be used by criminals for different kinds of cyber-attacks,” Bestuzhev added.

“Cloud providers should start thinking about better monitoring systems and expanding security teams in order to cut down on malware attacks enabled and launched from their cloud.”

Hackers could do well from using well known cloud services, as using a server with good repute will mean malware is less likely to be blocked by web filters.

From http://www.itpro.co.uk/634021/aws-used-to-spread-bank-data-malware

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Symantec claims spam continuing its downward spiral

Symantec Security

The latest state of spam and phishing report from Symantec claims to show that spam levels are continuing to fall in the wake of the takedown of the Rustock botnet back in March of this year.

The report appears to confirm reports from the BBC and security researcher Brian Krebs, although the slightly bad news is that phishing volumes appear to be up.

Delving into the statistics from the report shows that March spam dropped by 27.4% in that month, along with a further drop of 5.4% in April.

This means that spam now accounts for 74.8% of all email messages – a significant drop on the 89.2% figure noted in April last year, Infosecurity notes.

Phishing levels, however, rose by 15.6% in April says Symantec, noting that this growth was fuelled by a rise in phishing websites created by attack kits, which increased by 26.2%.

According to the security vendor’s report, many of the phishing attacks seen exploited the death of Osama bin Laden and spoofed legitimate media brands as the source to create trust and a feeling of authenticity.

These attacks, notes the report, attempted to trick users into clicking on links that supposedly led to uncensored photos and videos from the raid but instead pointed to malicious files or poisoned web pages.

Phishing attacks do appear to be taking over from spam, as the report notes that phishing emails that used unique URLs increased by 12.3% during April.

Phishing websites with IP domains instead of alphanumeric ‘regular’ web addresses, also increased slightly during April by about 5.5%, and web hosting services comprised 12.0% of all phishing, a massive increase of 10.3% from the previous month.

Interestingly, Symantec found that 89.0% of the phishing sites were hosted on free web hosting sites, whilst 13.0% were typosquatting – typosquatting refers to the practice of registering domain names that are typo variations of popular websites.

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Top 10 Malware Threats reported by GFI Software for February

According to GFI Application, a trend observed since last summer continued, with lots of of the same types of Trojan horses continuing to dominate the threat landscape. GFI’s statistics revealed that Trojans made up three of the top 10 malware threats in February 2011. Topping the list, Trojans detected as Trojan.Win32.Generic!BT accounted for 22.97 percent of total detections, holding its spot as the number one threat.

GFI Application has announced the top 10 most prevalent malware threats for the month of February 2011 as detected by scans performed by its anti-malware solution, VIPRE Antivirus, & its antispyware gizmo, CounterSpy.

These Trojans are downloaders associated with rogue security programs known as Fake Antivirus application, sometimes known as “scareware”. One time they are on a use’s process, these programs perform a fake scan of a victim’s computer for malware then display false warnings that the machine is infected in an try to persuade victims to buy fake security application.

The top 10 results represent the number of times a specific malware infection was detected in the coursework of GFI’s VIPRE & CounterSpy scans that document back to GFI’s community of opt-in users. These threats are classified as moderate to extreme based on process of installation among other criteria established by GFI Labs.

Top 10 Detections for February 2011 as reported by GFI Software:

1
 Trojan.Win32.Generic!BT Trojan
22.97%
2
 Trojan-Spy.Win32.Zbot.gen Trojan
3.46%
3
 Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra Trojan
2.89%
4
 Zugo LTD (v) Adware
2.52%
5
 Fraudtool.Win32.Securityshield.ek!c (v) Trojan
2.00%
6
 Trojan.Win32.Generic!SB.0 Trojan
1.72%
7
 INF.Autorun (v) Trojan
1.66%
8
 Worm.Win32.Downad.Gen (v) Worm
1.48%
9
 Pinball Corporation (v) Adware
1.19%
10
 Exploit.PDF-JS.Gen (v) PDF exploit
0.83%

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How to Recognize a Fake Virus Warning

Watch out for fake anti-virus alerts

Scareware: FBI Warns That Those Pop-Up Security Warnings Pose a Threat to Your Computer

I have a friend in the real estate business who told me that he wanted to pick up his computer and hurl it through a window.

The cause of his frustration was an incessant series of pop up messages on his computer screen that warned he had a virus on his computer. He could not figure out how to make the pop ups go away and eventually his computer ceased working.

He presumed that the warnings were legitimate, but he later learned that he was the victim of “scareware.”

He didn’t know that the FBI put out a warning this month about the threat of pop up security warnings.

The FBI states that pop up messages claiming that you have a virus and you are in need of anti-virus software may, ironically, actually contain a virus that could harm your computer, cause costly repairs or, even worse, lead to identity theft.

The FBI states that those pop up messages contain “scareware”, fake or rogue anti-virus software that looks authentic, but they are not.

Scareware is sold to unsuspecting computer users who fear viruses on their computers. The scareware is either useless or contains damaging malware programs. The cyber criminals convince users that he or she has a virus that has infected their computer and then offers anti-virus software to remove it. The virus does not in fact exist until the user downloads the scareware
The term scareware describes software products that often generates a bombardment of pop up warning messages that makes using your computer difficult.

The message may display what appears to be a real-time, anti-virus scan of your hard drive. The scareware will show a list of reputable software icons; however, you can’t click a link to go to the real site to review or see recommendations. The FBI says that cyber criminals use botnets —collections of compromised computers — to push the software, and advertisements on websites deliver it. This is known as malicious advertising or “malvertising.”

Once the pop-up warning appears, it can’t easily be deleted by clicking on the “close” or “X” buttons. If you click the pop-up to purchase the software, a form to collect payment information for the bogus product launches. In some instances, the scareware installs malicious code onto your computer, whether you click the warning or not. This is more likely to happen if your computer has an account that has rights to install software.

The FBI says that downloading the software can result in viruses, malicious software called Trojans, and/or keyloggers— hardware that records passwords and sensitive data —being installed on your computer. This malicious software can cause severe damage and the inability to use your computer.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) notes that the scareware scam has many variations, but there are some telltale signs. For example:

  • You may get ads that promise to “delete viruses or spyware,” “protect privacy,” “improve computer function,” “remove harmful files,” or “clean your registry;”
  • you may get “alerts” about “malicious software” or “illegal pornography on your computer;”
  • you may be invited to download free software for a security scan or to improve your system;
  • you could get pop-ups that claim your security software is out-of-date and your computer is in immediate danger;
  • you may suddenly encounter an unfamiliar website that claims to have performed a security scan and prompts you to download new software.

The FTC reports that scareware schemes can be quite sophisticated. The cyber criminals purchase ad space on trusted, popular websites. Although the ads look legitimate and harmless to the website’s operator, they actually redirect unsuspecting visitors to a fraudulent website that performs a bogus security scan. The site then causes a barrage of urgent pop-up messages that pressure users into downloading worthless software.

Fake anti-virus example screenshots

Example screenshots of fake anti-virus alerts

The FTC suggest that if you’re faced with any of the warning signs of a scareware scam or suspect a problem, shut down your browser. Don’t click “No” or “Cancel,” or even the “x” at the top right corner of the screen. Some scareware is designed so that any of those buttons can activate the program. If you use Windows, press Ctrl + Alt + Delete to open your Task Manager, and click “End Task.” If you use a Mac, press Command + Option + Q + Esc to “Force Quit.”

Lastly, make it a practice not to click on any links within pop-ups.

The FBI recommends that you take precautions to ensure your operating systems are updated and your legitimate security software is current. If you receive these anti-virus pop-ups, close the browser or shut down your computer system. Run a full anti-virus scan whenever the computer is turned back on.

Call me today at 262-203-4459 and I will clean up, tune up and speed up your entire system so your computer can run like new again. Guaranteed.

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Watch Out For Fake Virus Alerts

Watch out for fake virus alerts

Watch out for fake virus alerts

Rogue security software, also known as “scareware,” is software that appears to be beneficial from a security perspective but provides limited or no security, generates erroneous or misleading alerts, or attempts to lure users into participating in fraudulent transactions.

How does rogue security software get on my computer?

Rogue security software designers create legitimate looking pop-up windows that advertise security update software. These windows might appear on your screen while you surf the Web.

The “updates” or “alerts” in the pop-up windows call for you to take some sort of action, such as clicking to install the software, accept recommended updates, or remove unwanted viruses or spyware. When you click, the rogue security software downloads to your computer.

Need affordable virus and malware removal? Call me at 262-203-4459.

Rogue security software might also appear in the list of search results when you are searching for trustworthy antispyware software, so it is important to protect your computer.

What does rogue security software do?

Rogue security software might report a virus, even though your computer is actually clean. The software might also fail to report viruses when your computer is infected. Inversely, sometimes, when you download rogue security software, it will install a virus or other malicious software on your computer so that the software has something to detect.

Some rogue security software might also:

  • Lure you into a fraudulent transaction (for example, upgrading to a non-existent paid version of a program).
  • Use social engineering to steal your personal information.
  • Install malware that can go undetected as it steals your data.
  • Launch pop-up windows with false or misleading alerts.
  • Slow your computer or corrupt files.
  • Disable Windows updates or disable updates to legitimate antivirus software.
  • Prevent you from visiting antivirus vendor Web sites.


Rogue security software might also attempt to spoof the Microsoft security update process. Here’s an example of rogue security software that’s disguised as a Microsoft alert but that doesn’t come from Microsoft.

Example of a warning from a rogue security program known as AntivirusXP.

Example of a warning from a rogue security program known as AntivirusXP.

For more information about this threat, including analysis, prevention and recovery, see the Trojan:Win32/Antivirusxp entry in the Microsoft Malware Protection Center encyclopedia.

Here is the legitimate Microsoft Windows Security Center:

Screenshot of legitimate Microsoft Windows Security Center

Screenshot of legitimate Microsoft Windows Security Center

To help protect yourself from rogue security software:

  • Install a firewall and keep it turned on.
  • Use automatic updating to keep your operating system and software up to date.
  • Install antivirus and antispyware software such as Avast! Antivirus and keep it updated.
  • If your antivirus software does not include antispyware software, you should install a separate antispyware program such as Windows Defender and keep it updated. (Windows Defender is available as a free download for Windows XP and is included in Windows Vista.)
  • Use caution when you click links in e-mail or on social networking Web sites.
  • Use a standard user account instead of an administrator account.
  • Familiarize yourself with common phishing scams.

If you think you might have rogue security software on your computer:

Scan your computer. Use your antivirus software or do a free scan with Windows Live safety scanner. The safety scanner checks for and removes viruses, eliminates junk on your hard drive, and improves your PC’s performance.

Need help with virus and malware removal? Have questions about computer cleanup and system optimization? Call me at 262-203-4459. Or you can contact me here.

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What is Fake AV?

What is Fake AV?

What is Fake AV?

Find out how criminals lure users to malicious sites and scare them into paying for fake threat removal tools.

What is Fake AV?

FakeAV, or Fake Anti-Virus, is one of the most frequently-encountered and persistent threats on the web. This malware, with over half a million variants, uses social engineering to lure users onto infected websites with a technique called blackhat Search Engine Optimization.


Once the FakeAV is downloaded onto the user’s computer, the software will scare them into believing their system is infected with threats that do not really exist, and then push users to purchase services to clean up the non-existent threats. The FakeAV will continue to send these annoying and intrusive alerts until a payment is made.

The great threat of FakeAV is the risk to victims’ personally identifiable information, which is extracted and exploited by the affiliate networks that publish this malware. [click to continue…]

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Fake Anti Virus Prevention Tips

Avoid

Avoid Fake Anti-Virus Software Scams

Some simple tips to help you avoid fake anti-virus software scams

Fake Virus Scam Tactics

Fake virus alerts are usually generated by a Trojan — a program that takes control of your computer — after you open an email attachment, click on a pop-up advertisement or visit a particular website. (Adult sites are special favorites.)

If you run programs that provide file-sharing information — including LimeWire,FrostWire, and some instant messenger (IM) applications — your computer might be remotely accessed by scammers, hackers and identity thieves.

Sometimes, the Trojan creates “false positive” readings, making you think viruses and spyware have infected your computer, even though nothing has. In other cases, scam software actually implants malicious code into your computer, especially if you request a “free virus scan.”

In other words, some peddlers of fake anti-virus software actually design the viruses, spyware and malware that their software is supposed to detect.

Rogue Spyware: What to Look For

  • Rogue anti-virus/spyware programs often generate more “alerts” than the software made by reputable companies.
  • You may be bombarded with pop-ups, even when you’re not online.
  • High-pressure sales copy will try to convince you to buy RIGHT NOW!
  • If you’ve been infected, your computer may dramatically slow down.
  • Other signs of infection include: new desktop icons; new wallpaper, or having your default homepage redirected to another site.

(Mac users: if you run Windows using Boot Camp, Parallels or VMWare, these tips apply to you. However, at the time of this writing, Mac OSX does not have these problems.)

Fake Anti Virus Prevention Tips

1. Use Firefox or Google Chrome as your browser rather than Internet Explorer.

2. Keep your computer updated with the latest anti-virus and anti-spyware software, and be sure to use a good firewall.

3. Never open an email attachment unless you are POSITIVE about the source.

4. Do NOT click on any pop-up that advertises anti-virus or anti-spyware software, especially a program promising to provide every feature known to mankind. (Also remember: the fakes often mimic well-known brands such as Grisoft AVG, Norton and McAfee.)

5. If a virus alert appears on your screen, do NOT touch it. Don’t use your mouse to eliminate or scan for viruses, and DON’T use your mouse to close the window. Instead, hit control + alt + delete to view a list of programs currently running. Delete the “rogue” from the list of running programs, and call your computer maker’s phone or online tech support service to learn if you can safely use your computer.

6. Do not download freeware or shareware unless you know it’s from a reputable source. We use Download.com and VersionTracker.

Unfortunately, freeware and shareware programs often come bundled with spyware, adware or fake anti-virus programs.

7. Avoid questionable websites. Some sites may automatically download malicious software onto your computer.

8. Reset your current security settings to a higher level.

9. Although fake software may closely resemble the real thing, it’s rarely an exact match. Look for suspicious discrepancies.

10. Check out this list of rogue/fake anti-virus and anti-spyware products.

If your computer is infected by rogue software, stop work and contact your computer manufacturer’s tech-support hotline. Don’t keep using the computer. This may further damage your machine and provide identity thieves with more information about you.

Use of fake anti-virus, anti-spyware software is a fast-growing scam, especially as more people become aware of the dangers of spyware, adware and malware. By following the tips above, however, you’ll better protect yourself from becoming the next victim of scammers, identity thieves and hackers.

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The Difference Between Adware & Spyware

The Difference Between Adware & Spyware

The Difference Between Adware & Spyware

A s technology advances and more people come to rely on the Internet for information, leisure, and business it seems as if keeping your computer free of advertising is a daunting task.

Not technically fitting into either the virus or spam category we have spyware and adware, which are growing concerns for Internet users. At times these programs may invade your privacy, contain malicious code, and at the very least they can be a nuisance when using a computer connected to the Internet.

Adware

Adware is considered a legitmate alternative offered to consumers who do not wish to pay for software. Programs, games or utilities can be designed and distributed as freeware. Sometimes freeware blocks features and functions of the software until you pay to register it. Today we have a growing number of software developers who offer their goods as “sponsored” freeware until you pay to register. Generally most or all features of the freeware are enabled but you will be viewing sponsored advertisements while the software is being used. The advertisements usually run in a small section of the software interface or as a pop-up ad box on your desktop. When you stop running the software, the ads should disappear. This allows consumers to try the software before they buy and you always have the option of disabling the ads by purchasing a registration key.

Need help with spyware and virus removal? Have questions about computer cleanup and system optimization? You can call me at (262) 203-4459 or email me here.

In many cases, adware is a legitimate revenue source for companies who offer their software free to users. A perfect example of this would be the popular e-mail program, Eudora. You can choose to purchase Eudora or run the software in sponsored mode. In sponsored mode Eudora will display an ad window in the program and up to three sponsored toolbar links. Eudora adware is not malicious; it reportedly doesn’t track your habits or provide information about you to a third party. This type of adware is simply serving up random paid ads within the program. When you quit the program the ads will stop running on your system.

Spyware

Unfortunately, some freeware applications which contain adware do track your surfing habits in order to serve ads related to you. When the adware becomes intrusive like this, then we move it in the spyware category and it then becomes something you should avoid for privacy and security reasons. Due to its invasive nature, spyware has really given adware a bad name as many people do not know the differences between the two, or use the the terms interchangeably.

Spyware is considered a malicious program and is similar to a Trojan Horse in that users unwittingly install the product when they install something else. A common way to become a victim of spyware is to download certain peer-to-peer file swapping products that are available today.

Spyware works like adware but is usually a separate program that is installed unknowingly when you install another freeware type program or application. Once installed, the spyware monitors user activity on the Internet and transmits that information in the background to someone else. Spyware can also gather information about e-mail addresses and even passwords and credit card numbers.

Because spyware exists as independent executable programs, they have the capability to monitor your keystrokes, scan files on the hard drive, snoop other applications, such as chat programs or word processors, install other spyware programs, read cookies, change the default home page on the Web browser, while consistently relaying this information back to the spyware author who will either use it for advertising and marketing purposes or sell the information to another party.

Licensing agreements that accompany software downloads sometimes warn the user that a spyware program will be installed along with the requested software, but the licensing agreements are not always be read completely by users because the notice of a spyware installation is often couched in obtuse, hard-to-read legal disclaimers.

Combating Spyware

While one may not realize they have installed spyware, there are some signs that it exists on your computer. If you notice any changes to your Web browser that you did not make such as extra toolbars or different homepage settings, as well as changes to your security settings and favorites list, you could have spyware running on your system. Other signs of a spyware infection include pop-up ads which aren’t related to a Web site you’re viewing; usually spyware advertisements are adult content in nature and are not displayed in the same fashion as legitimate ads you would normally see on your favorite Web sites. You may also see advertisements when you’re not browsing the Web. Clicking hyperlinks which do not work (or take you somewhere you didn’t expect), a sluggish system, or your system taking longer to load the Windows desktop are all signs that your computer may be infected with spyware.

With the onset of spyware comes a plethora of anti-spyware software packages to rid your system of these unwanted and malicious programs. Anti-spyware software works by identifying any spyware installed on your system and removing it. Since spyware is installed like any other application on your system it will leave traces of itself in the system registry and in other places on your computer. Anti-spyware software will look for evidence of these files and delete them if found.

It is important to remember that not all companies who claim their software contains adware are really offering adware. There is always a chance that adware is spyware in disguise so to speak, and that programs with embedded spyware may not state its existence at all. Always stay on the side of caution and be sure to research privacy policies and licensing agreements that come with freeware. You should also become familiar with Internet lists of companies reported to be using spyware. Much like a firewall or anti-virus program, anti-spyware software is crucial to maintain optimal protection and security on your computer and network.

Need help with virus and malware removal? Have questions about computer cleanup and system optimization? You can contact me here.

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Some Symptoms of Spyware, Adware and Malware Infection

Symptoms of Spyware

Symptoms of Spyware

The symptoms of a malware infection vary.

Your web browsing speed may be slow. Your computer,  in general,  may be slower that it was and may take much longer to start up than it used to.

It is likely Internet Explorer is modified.  Your homepage and/or search page may be changed,  new favorites that you didn’t create may appear, a new toolbar may appear or you may end up at unknown web sites when you try to do a search.

To prevent you from undoing the browser modifications made by a malware program,  some of them remove or disable the Internet Options from the Tools Menu and from the Control Panel.   If you try to reset your home page and can’t,  it’s likely due to malware.  If you can’t get to anti-virus or security web sites,  but can get to other web sites,  it’s likely due to malware.

Adware will bombard you with pop-up ads. More malicious programs serve up a constant barrage of ads for pornographic web sites.   That’s on top of the pop-ups from the web sites you’re viewing.   If you see pop-up ads even when you are offline,  it’s due to malware.

Actual Spyware (as opposed to other malware) has to phone home to report what it found.   If your firewall provides outbound protection you may see the ‘phone call’ and be able to stop it.

Malicious software may also shut down or disable your anti-virus program or your firewall program. It may prevent the normal activity of your anti-Spyware software.   It may prevent you from accessing Task Manager or msconfig or regedit.

Adware programs may create new icons on the Windows desktop,  task bar,  or system tray.   They may also create popup windows that you are unable to close.   If your computer mysteriously dials the phone on its own,  it may be infected with a porn dialing program.

Once it is installed on the user system,  it’s difficult to uninstall,  you can’t run Windows updates anymore or install other antivirus products. A rise in fake antivirus offerings on Web sites around the globe shows that scammers are increasingly turning to social engineering to get malware on computers rather than exploiting holes in software.   Fake antivirus is easy money for scammers.
—
from » http://www.michaelhorowitz.com

Need help with virus and malware removal? Have questions about computer cleanup and system optimization? You can contact me here.

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