Van Zandt Webs - Computer Repair - Virus Removal

The virus protection business is a multi-billion dollar industry that continues to grow each year. The importance of virus protection is increasing as viruses have become more common and more dangerous. How important is virus protection? It must be pretty important if Intel will spend $7.68 billion USD to purchase McAfee. Intel plans to sell antivirus software with every device that contains its chip. Their logic is simple. Every device these days is connected to the internet and therefore at risk of viruses.

Unfortunately, virus protection software is not enough to prevent your computer from being infected. In fact, the best antivirus software can only stop 75% of viruses despite what they may claim. The reason for this is new viruses are being released each and every day that have been tested against the virus software to make sure it will get through to your computer. It is estimated that more than 50% of computers are infected with some type of virus and more than likely the computer you are reading this article on is infected with some sort of Trojan or Spyware.

Not too long ago the only way to get a virus was to get it through an email attachment or something downloaded. Today millions of websites are infected and the act of simply going to that site can download a virus to your computer. These sites may be legitimate sites that have been hijacked without the owner’s knowledge. There are a variety of free options that will warn you if a site is suspicious. (I will cover prevention in a future article.)

Before we determine if your computer is sick let’s look at the different kinds of viruses and how they work:

Adware- or advertising-supported software, is any software package which automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertisements to a computer. These advertisements can be in the form of a pop-up. The object of the Adware is to generate revenue for its author. Adware, by itself, is harmless; however, some adware may come with integrated spyware such as keyloggers and other privacy-invasive software.

Malware- short for malicious software, is software designed to infiltrate a computer system without the owner's informed consent. The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code. The term "computer virus" is sometimes used as a catch-all phrase to include all types of malware, including true viruses.

Software is considered to be malware based on the perceived intent of the creator rather than any particular features. Malware includes computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, spyware, dishonest adware, crimeware, most rootkits, and other malicious and unwanted software.

Crimeware- (as distinct from spyware, adware, and malware) is designed (through social engineering or technical stealth) to perpetrate identity theft in order to access a computer user's online accounts at financial services companies and online retailers for the purpose of taking funds from those accounts or completing unauthorized transactions that enrich the thief controlling the crimeware. Crimeware also often has the intent to export confidential or sensitive information from a network for financial exploitation. Crimeware represents a growing problem in network security as many malicious code threats seek to pilfer confidential information.

Rootkits- is software that enables continued privileged access to a computer, while actively hiding its presence from administrators by subverting standard operating system functionality or other applications. Typically, a hacker installs a rootkit on a computer after first obtaining user-level access, either by exploiting a known vulnerability or cracking a password. Once a rootkit is installed, it allows an attacker to mask his intrusion while gaining root or privileged access to the computer. Although rootkits can serve a variety of ends, they have gained notoriety primarily as malware, appropriating computing resources or stealing passwords without the knowledge of the administrators or users of affected systems. Rootkits can target firmware, a hypervisor, the kernel or most commonly, user-mode applications.

Spyware- is a type of malware that can be installed on computers and collects little bits of information at a time about users without their knowledge. The presence of spyware is typically hidden from the user, and can be difficult to detect. Typically, spyware is secretly installed on the user's personal computer.

Trojan Horse- A Trojan horse, or Trojan, is malware that appears to perform a desirable function for the user prior to run or install but instead facilitates unauthorized access of the user's computer system. "It is a harmful piece of software that looks legitimate. Users are typically tricked into loading and executing it on their systems"

As you can see, there are many forms of viruses out there. They can range from annoying to catastrophic for both your identity and computer. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms you may be infected by some form of Malware/Virus:

If you are still experiencing any of the above problems after running a virus scan it is recommended that you let a professional examine your computer and remove the problem. If you choose Van Zandt Webs we guarantee that we will remove all viruses from your computer and set you up with better protection. If we cannot fix it you do not pay!

Is My Computer Sick? by Dave Van Zandt

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