Part 1 – Viruses & Worms

Part 1 – Viruses and Worms

Now we can get down and dirty.  You have probably heard of viruses & worms and know that they are not good.  But what exactly are they?  Let’s start with the Viruses.  A computer virus is simply a program that is written and designed to spread from one file on a computer to another, or from one file on a computer to a file on another computer, without the knowledge of the user.  Viruses were first written as a proving ground for coders in which noteriety would be gained from programs written that “spread” better than the next.  Initially, no malicious intent was made from the writing of these programs.  However, problems did start arising, even though unintentional, from the spread of these programs.  Some would attack executable files (.exe or .com), while others would infect web pages, or Word (.doc) and Excel (.xls) files.  Some would propogate so efficiently that computer slow downs or lock ups, data erasure, and sometimes irrepairable computer damage would occur.  Most viruses are categorized by one of the following: 1) Types of files they infect; 2) Where they hide; 3) What functions they carry out; or 4) What OS or platform they where written for.

Worms, which are very similar to viruses, however are different in two distinct ways.  1) Worms do not infect files like a virus, but hide in many different areas on a computer; and 2) can be used by cyber-criminals to infect and control user’s computers via a Botnet (see later Chapter on Botnets).  Worms, like viruses are written to copy and infect as many areas of a computer as possible.  They are spread over the internet either via email attachments, P2P (peer-to-peer) file sharing sites, Instant Messengers, among others.  Of the two, Worms are the more dangerous, even though viruses tend to be more feared.

The key difference between Viruses/Worms and other malware, is that in the case of a Virus and Worm, no action is required by the user to infect the user’s machine.  These bugs can self replicate (copy) themselves without any input from the user.  The other types of malware, do need the user to do something before they can be started.  For instance, clicking on a link in a malicious email can trigger the installation of the program.

The good news is that according to Panda Securities,  “…these types of threats have been in decline since 2005”.

But how do you get rid of them.  Well there are a number of softwares out there that will scan your computer, detect known viruses, and then either delete or quarantine them.  Quarantining a virus, just makes the file unusable, it does not erase it from your computer.  What you will need to do is download and install an anti-virus software.  I will provide a list of both free and paid versions at the end of this section.  Once it is downloaded and installed on your computer, you will need to update all of the definitions and scan your computer with this software.  Updating is pretty straight forward with all of the recommended software. This could take a couple of hours, depending on your computer.  During the scan, your computer will slow down noticebly.  This is normal.

Before I list my recommendations, I need to say this…..YOU CAN ONLY HAVE ONE ANTI-VIRUS INSTALLED ON YOUR COMPUTER at any one time.  This is important.  One AV software will conflict with another and neither will work correctly, if at all.  You will need to uninstall any current anti-virus software on your computer before installing any new software.  OK, here is the procedure to correctly install a new AV on your computer.

(1) Go to the AV of choice’s website and download the installation file.  DO NOT INSTALL!!!!

(2) Unplug your computer from the internet by disconnecting the ethernet cable, or if you are using wireless, disable the wireless connection.  The easiest way to do this is to unplug your router.  Do not do this procedure from a public Wi-Fi connection.

(3) Now go to Start>Control Panel>Add/Remove Programs….and uninstall your current AV software.  There may be more than one file that is part of your current anti-virus program.  All files must be removed from your computer.

(4) Once the entire AV on your computer is uninstalled, install the new one by double-clicking on the installation file you downloaded onto your computer in step 1.

(5) You will need to restart your computer now.

(6) Once the computer restarts, open the new anti-virus software.

(7) Reconnect to the internet, and download all of the new definition files. You will find it under “Update” in most anti-virus software options.

(8) Do a full system scan of your computer.

OK, now here are my recommendations for good AV software.  For most users, the free versions will be quite adequate.

Free Versions……

1) Security Essentials (from Microsoft) – Click Here For More Info

2) AVG – Click Here For More Info

3) Avast – Click Here For More Info

Paid Versions

Note that all three of the paid versions have 30-Day Free Trials.

1) Eset NOD32 – Click Here For More Info

2) Kaspersky Labs – Click Here For More Info

3) Panda Security – Click Here Fore More Info

All of these softwares, both free and paid versions, are listed in my order of preference.   All of the above listed software, will protect your computer, and will not slow it down, except during a scan.

OK, let’s move on….Viruses are only one threat that is out there trying to slow you down.  Now all of the above listed AV software will scan and identify certain Malware, but they are not perfect, you need more.  This is where your Anti-Spyware/Adware protection comes into play.

Click HERE to learn more…..

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