A brief look at malware from Richardson Technology,
Benicia, CA,
US
Why bother keeping your workstation clean?
You’ve probably experienced lots of annoying pop up windows when you try to open
your browser, like Internet Explorer. Pop ups many times are
an indication that a clean computer has been corrupted with some sort of
mal-ware. Malware is software with bad intent. We used to call all malware
“viruses.” But these days there are 4 categories of malware: Adware, Spyware,
Trojans, and Viruses. All of them will tax your computer’s resources, making
things slow down.
Adware: advertisers put this on your computer to watch where you go, figure out
what kind of person you are, and deliver advertisements to your screen in the
form of pop up windows. Some of the more aggressive forms will “hijack” your
browser and send you off to a more malicious website that sends other kinds of
malware to your computer, like…
Spyware: people with really bad intent want to know what your social security number and
banking passwords are so they can go manage your money, open credit accounts in
your name and otherwise make your life miserable. But they aren’t all that bad…
some of them just want to install a little program on your computer to log every
keystroke you type in and find out more about you, your family, friends,
enemies, etc. It’s their life to peep on others.
Trojans: Trojans are also refered to as backdoors programs. They allow the
operator (whoever wrote or manages the software Trojan) to access your computer
remotely and use it however they want. They might set up shop to spam people in
France, Maine, and Hong Kong… or launch a web attack on a bank they are angry
at. They typically don’t want you to find out about their software, so they try
to keep a low profile and not pop up windows on your computer. But often,
malware programs are not very stable, cause conflicts on your computer, and
cause it too crash or behave strangely.
Viruses: Now-a-days, if a piece of malware is destructive to the data on your
hard drive, it is referred to as a virus. If you don’t have up to date, high
quality anti-virus software on your computer, you are most likely infected and
have problems. I use and recommend Trend Micro products to all my clients
because it works.
Worms: Worms really refer to how a piece of malware spreads itself… typically if
a piece of mailware automatically delivers itself from one computer to another
via email or file shares, it is refered to as a worm.
There are several things you can do to ensure you are not an easy target for
malware.
1. Keep your operating system up to date by regularly running updates (Microsoft
Windows Update is available as a drop down option under Tools in Internet
Explorer).
2. If you must download free stuff from the Internet, you should download it to
your home computer and read all 17 pages of fine print in the End User License
Agreement (EULA) or realize that it is probably not as free (or fun, or cute, or
happy) as it looks and avoid it altogether.
3. Scan your computer regularly using your antivirus software. Trend Micro has a
free online scan tool which will clean up Viruses, Trojans, Adware, and Spyware.
You can find it at http://housecall.trendmicro.com
4. Install good anti-malware software like Trend Micro’s (AntiSpyware) or
Webroot’s (Spysweeper), especially if you are going to forage around in pirate
territory on the Internet. Malicious websites will drop all sorts of junk on
your computer if you go out there unprotected.
The best advice I can offer you, as much as I regret to say it, is to suspect
everything you come across on the Internet – every webpage, every photograph,
every pop up window, and especially every download - and ask yourself: “Is this
coming from a source that I can really rely on that is not out to take advantage
of me?”
When pop ups present themselves on my screen, I always use my mouse on the “X”
in the upper right corner to close them. I’ve always heard this is the safer way
than clicking on their “No Thanks” buttons. You can also use the “Alt F4” keys
to close whatever window is open on top. This can be helpful if you get 75
advertisers opening windows in Internet Explorer.
Jon Richardson is the founder of Richardson Technology, a network consulting
firm providing schools and businesses in the San Francisco
Bay Area with computer technology leadership and consulting services. He can be reached at http://www.richardsontech.net
The Organizational Wizards -
www.RescueMyOffice.com
(Nancy
Richardson)
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