Protect Yourself From Malware, Spyware, or Adware Programs

In this post I will cover many aspects of the Virus community. That is, from what it is, to how to protect our system from them.

Files:
McAfee
Download
This is a Full McAfee release.

Norton Trial Reset Download
This is a Norton 2009 Trial Reset
Get the trial from Here: Download

Geek Squad MRI CD v5.0.0
Download
Technically this info is supposed to be classified and top secret, im not kidding. Anyone known to possess and use a MRI cd without express permission from bestbuy could be subject to legal action.

What is a Virus?

A computer virus is a program designed to replicate itself and infect a computer without the permission or knowledge of the owner. The term "virus" is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, adware, and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability. I virus is always built in some form of executable code and can only spread from one system to another when sent over a network or the Internet, or literally carried to another system via floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB drive.

Computer Virus is often used to describe all types of malware. Malware includes computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, most rootkits, spyware, dishonest adware, crimeware, and other malicious and unwanted software), including true viruses. . A worm can exploit security vulnerabilities to spread itself to other computers without needing to be transferred as part of a host, and a Trojan horse is a program that appears harmless but has a hidden agenda. Worms and Trojans, like viruses, may cause harm to either a computer system's hosted data, functional performance, or networking throughput, when they are executed.

Malware will forever live and developers, who script them, will always exist, but there steps you can take to protect your system.

Picking your Operating System
Any operating system that allows third-party programs to run can theoretically run viruses, but some operating systems are less secure than others.

Microsoft Windows OS:

The users of Microsoft software (especially networking software such as Microsoft Outlook and Internet Explorer) are especially vulnerable to the spread of viruses. Microsoft software is targeted by virus writers due to their desktop dominance, and is often criticized for including many errors and holes for virus writers to exploit.

Unix OS:

Unix natively blocks normal users from having access to make changes to the operating system environment, and only allow their users to run executables within their own protected memory space.

Mac OS X:

Apple states that there are only four known viruses, but independent sources state there are as many as 63 viruses.

Anti-Malware Software
Spy Sweeper, McAfee, Norton, Trend Micro, Kaspersky are all well known Anti-virus/malware solutions but 'will not' remove all traces/signs of infection and you should always take other precautions.

Have a system backup!

You should always backup all your files onto an external hard drive. I do not recommend system restores because a system restore will only 'restore' the system to the time/point which you restored it. BACKUP all your important files by plainly transferring them to an external hard drive. And them perform a scan on the external HD.

Scan Suspicious Emails
This is extremely important!
There are programs known as keyloggers that will detect and record every keyboard stroke you will make. That is: passwords, websites visited, anything you type, which means your identity is at threat. Keyloggers are usually merged with files that are emailed to you so there is no possible way to identify them physically.

How to detect a KEYLGGER program:
- Check the task list by press ctrl+alt+del in windows. Examine all the tasks running, if your unsure of a task and look it up on a search engine.
- Use the system configuration utility to determine which task are loaded at start-up (type "msconfig" in the run box to start).
- Run your antivirus checker, it's possible, but most likely not, this will pick up the Keylogger on your system.
- Scan your hard disk for the most recent files stored. Look at the contents of any files continually updating (these might be logs).
- Run Spybot S&D, this program checks for some known keyloggers.

Geek Squad MRI
This is a great tool. The disc has tools to help fix and repair computers - it has AntiVirus, AntiSpyware, Disk Cleaner, Process List, Winsock Fix, etc, all in an attractive and quite usable interface! It has the LASER AntiVirus & Spyware Removal System to quickly and efficiently remove all vestiges of malware!

The Last Resort
The last option is reformatting the hard drive and a clean install or reinstallation of the preferable operating system. Of course if you back up all your files onto an external HD it wouldn't be a problem. Geek Squad use this all the time; that is how they work so fast.