Guidelines To Identify And Prevent Malware Infection
Viruses and other malware can be traced back to the time when the computer was invented, but before the advent of the Internet the extent of damage done by malware was very limited. After the Internet became an integral part of the computing world, malicious software content has increased exponentially as computers are now constantly online, and this provides an easy mode of transmission.
Not only are more malware, including viruses, worms, spyware and adware, being launched everyday but malware is becoming more dangerous. Every year millions of users lose critical data, financial information and suffer irreparable damage to their computer due to malicious codes floating on the internet.
Today, malware programs are quite advanced and use various deception methods in order to gain entry into your system. Therefore, you need all the help that you can get to deflect these assaults. This includes following the guidelines given below that will help you in malware prevention.
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Keep your eyes open for any abnormal behaviour by your computer. Your computer may try to signal you about being infected by displaying symptoms, such as slow computer, slow browsing speed, pop-up messages, repeated shutdowns and so on.
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You must have reliable anti-spyware as well as anti-virus installed on your system. You must also keep the real-time protection always ON. You must also update these tools regularly in order to get the optimum protection, otherwise your PC will become vulnerable to new viruses and other malicious code.
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You should select an email client that provides adequate protection against unsolicited emails. You can also install good quality anti-spam software as a large number of viruses are being spread through email.
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The next step for protection is installing a Firewall, especially if you use the internet extensively and are likely to leave your PC connected for long hours. This will also help keep the hackers and other online criminals away from your system.
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Adopt safe practices while using your computer. You must avoid dubious websites and should never download any program from them as they are most likely to be infected with spyware or virus. You must also be cautious of emails that you receive. Never open an email from unknown sources. Always look at email attachments with suspicion and scan the attachments before opening them.
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Malware can come in deceptively similar names as genuine files and you may invite a virus assuming that you are downloading a legitimate program. A case in point is the iexplore.exe virus that deceives a lot of users.
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Many viruses are known to cause registry errors in your system. Download a good quality registry cleaner that will help remove any changes that malware may have made their way into your Windows registry. It will also help you get rid of stubborn malware that refuse to go away.
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Be careful while sharing files or compact disks with others as this can lead to the transmission of viruses from one machine to another. It is always advisable to perform a scan before installing any programs from such CDs.
