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Virus and Spyware Information

Image above a screen shot of a fake antivirus programme

Over the years we are occasionally approached by our clients to helpout or advise regarding virus or spyware problems they have encountered. We do not have space on here to advise or warn over every problem encountered but from time to time we will publish alerts or warnings over what we consider to be major threats or problems. We hope the advice detailed below may help save you a lot of heartache. Viruses, Malware and Spyware not only compromise your security but can substantially slow down your computer.

Virus or Spyware?

We have all heard of computer viruses but the biggest danger now is probably from Spyware or Malware which can often be picked up simply from visiting a website.

The definition below may help explain the difference..

A virus is a piece of malicious software code written to cause some kind of damage to a computer system or network. Viruses spread, similar to their biological namesake, from one machine to another and can spread havoc wherever they go. They are most commonly spread by sharing files with others or through email attachments where they can be set up to send themselves to all the addresses in your email address book.

Adware or Spyware is usually downloaded and installed along with some other program without your knowledge and unlike a virus doesn't spread by itself. Very often you click "OK" without reading the terms and conditions and by doing so you agree to have the files installed. An example is you see a "free" program on offer that you think might be useful and download it without thinking. Even some so called anti-spyware programs install adware and the website earns money from the ads that are clicked on.

The catch is that the extra files introduced are used to determine things like your surfing habits and the data is used to serve up popup ads or redirect your browser to a page other than the one you wanted. Some of the programs can be used to install keyloggers which can send back information about passwords and bank details etc. Adware is not a security problem it is more an annoyance especially when you have ten different programs trying show ads. The amount of computer resources it uses up slows your system to a crawl.

Spyware is more malicious and evil intentioned and is designed to steal something from you. It can be downloaded by visiting the wrong types of websites or along with other files the same way as adware. Spyware can often be hard to remove as it can continually recreate itself and hide somewhere on your hard drive and even in your PC memory.

Programs such as trojans can be used to allow access to hackers at a later date. From the story of the Trojan horse where the Greeks hid inside the wooden horse left as a peace offering and were wheeled in to the fort by the Trojans themselves. Then at night the Greeks crept out of the horse and opened the gates and let the enemy in. Trojans and adware, unlike viruses don't spread themselves.

The Anatomy of a Malware Scam - Please Read

We have come across an excellent article that explains in great depth how cunning Malware or Spyware can be and the link explains just how devious some programmes are.

What Should you do?

There are many antivirus products on the market and some are better than others but you can never entirely depend on them to protect to. Never open unknown attachments in emails (especially .exe .scr (screensaver) files or Zip Files) and if visiting websites never install anything that you are told is required to view the website except from that software's manufacturers website (Eg Flash from Macromedia, windows items from Microsoft).

We have done a lot of research on the best protection for your PC and can now recommend two products that should help protect you from these nasty things. We have come across many computers with apparent anti virus systems that have failed to detect or remove many threats unlike the recommendations below.

The first is a simple scanner/protector that will not only remove virtually every known threat but can actually stop these applications. Called Malwarebytes it is a front line protection for any nasty programs that may try to install themselves on your computer whilst surfing the internet and can also scan and remove those you may already have.

Malwarebytes can be found by clicking on the link below or copying and pasting it into your browser. It is free to download and to scan your PC for threats which it will remove. Should you want to purchase the instant protection feature it is only $24.95 (around £13.00) a small price to pay to avoid a major breakdown of your computer. 

http://www.beanwebs.co.uk/recommends/malwarebytes

Until recently we were recommending AVG as the best virus software but recent upgrades to this anti virus product now means that it has become rather unwieldy and very consuming on memory.

We have now moved to use Avira Anti Virus, which at under £20.00 offers a fast and efficient Anti Virus product. and would recommend this product without reservation. More about them can be found via the link below.

http://www.beanwebs.co.uk/recommends/avira

Restoring Desktop Features

Very often when viruses are finally removed you may find that many of them have disabled your desktop features. The scripts below will restore (or remove) those features.

Add/Remove Themes

Change wallpaper

Enable Active Desktop

Enable Screensaver

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