You’ve probably seen it before, all of a sudden a window appears on your screen warning you of the imminent danger your computer is in unless you choose to scan now and save your precious computer. I’m talking about the viruses and spyware we see so often. I’d like to answer a couple questions I frequently hear from our customers.

1) What is it? Spy-ware, viruses, root-kits, trojans, and everything else can fit into a category called “malware.” Malware is an unwanted program that can reek havoc on your computer. Depending on the type, some are there to be annoying, some to steal information and some to take down your computer completely.

2) Where did it come from? My best answer for this is, “The Internet.” Unfortunately some of these programs get downloaded when you visit malicious site on the internet and some can come in email, or from an instant message from a friend.

3) How do I stop it? Stopping malware is an ongoing battle comprised of two parts, first is prevention and the second is address it quickly. The best way to prevent malware from showing up on your computer is to be conscience of the sites you’re surfing to on the web. In a business environment, we limit the “rights” our customers have on their computers. Contary to popular belief, IT staff aren’t some power happy group of people and for that reason we limit what you can do on your computer, it really is for security’s sake! With reduced “rights” most malicious programs can’t install or are limited to what they can do. This proved to be an extremely effective way to reduce malware in the workplace. Next, is to have a good antivirus. I used to work at a computer retail store and had a customer ask me what the best way to stop viruses…I told him to unplug his computer. There is no silver bullet for these evil programs. There are plenty of good free antivirus programs for the regular joe such as AVG Free and Avira both with paid upgrades. We use Panda Security’s Managed Office Protection with many of our clients with a fairly good success rate.

4) How do I get rid of it? This isn’t an easy question to answer. There really is no “one size fits all” way to remove this stuff. We use a combination of software tools and tricks we’ve learned over the years to get the little buggers of the backs of our clients.

Hope this helps shed a little light on the subject. I’ve spent many years removing malware for friends, family and customers, if your computer is infected, leave a comment and I’ll try to point you in the right direction.

Regards,

Matt