HOW TO SAFE FROM COMPUTER VIRUSES

  COMPUTER  VIRUSES

HOW MALWARE SPREADS?

The following are different ways malware can spread in computers.

INFECTED FLASH DRIVES/CDS

                   Virus, spyware and other types of malware can infect computer in which anti-malware software is not installed through infected flash drives and CDS.

PIRATED SOFTWARE

           Software piracy refers to making of unauthorized copies of copyrighted software and distributing it. Pirated software on CDs is a very common sources of spreading malware on computers becauses these are often infested.

                    If users download pirated music, movies, programs, etc. for free, their computers may be infected becauses pirated downloads often contain virus, spyware, or other malicious programs.

NETWORK AND INTERNET

      Computers connected to network get infected with malware when information is exchanged with other computers. Computers are also infected while using internet when users download something or browser infected website.

        Computer may get infected with a virus or other malware if the user downloads software such as games, update, demos, and other programs from unrelible sources and installs it on the computer.

E-MAIL ATTACHMENTS

               Opening e-mail attachments from a strander or fromas unknow address can infect computer with malware. Even downloading and opening e-mail from a friend or family member can be dangerous. They may pass the user a virus or other malware without knowing about it.

COMMON SYMPTOMS OF MALWARE ATTACKS

It is very difficult to list all the symptoms of infected computer, the reason for this is that there are hundreds and thousand of malicious programs and new one created every day. Sometime, some infected computers do not show any symptom and the user thinks that his computer is not infected.

 A list of common symptoms of infected computer is given below.

. The computer does not start or it reboots automatically when it on.

. Different types of error messages appear on the screen.

. unexpected messages appear on the screen.

. Programs do not run in a normal way.

. Computer is running very slow.

.New files or folder are created on the hard disk.

. Folder are deleted or changed on the hard disk.

. Hard disk activity is noticed without running any program.

. Web browser does not run in a normal way.

.  Strange noise is heard when the computer is on.

PROTECTION COMPUTER FROM MALWARE

We have to install the following software to safeguard computer against VIRUSES, WORMS, ADWARE and SPYWARE.

1)    ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE          2) ANTI-SPYWARE SOFTWARE