Spyware, malware, hi-jackers and viruses (Definitions are at bottom of article) are all very prominent issues in today’s heavily computer dependant world. Just for simplicity’s sake, let us call all the different kinds of infections one term, “malware”. Symptoms of malware infections include, but are not limited to: popups, spam, internet slow downs, the inability to browse or surf the internet, general errors and stability problems, the inability to load the Windows operating system, general slow responsiveness of the computer, lockups and or crashes, the inability to reset the web browsers homepage or startpage, excessive toolbars and other web browser add-ons, unexplained software installations, the inability to remove certain software and many many more.

Some of the possible risks involved with being infected are, but not limited to: breach of privacy (which includes internet surfing tracking and computer usage logs); corrupt or deleted system files, resulting in possible partial or total hard drive erasure; identity theft (which include stolen credit/debit card information along with social security numbers and account numbers including usernames and passwords; for any type of account keyed into the computer for any reason); unauthorized change of the homepage or startpage to anything, including to a pornographic website; software installation, related to ads tracking and advertisement popup engines. These are just some of the possible risks, there are an immeasurable amount of risks when infected with any of the previously mentioned forms of malware. All malware are written just like any other form of software. Programmers with malicious intent write these infections on a daily basis and even update their code or scripts like most legitimate software applications. They can program these infections to do almost anything they want.

Protection is not as simple as most believe. There is no single software application that can give 100% complete protection against all the different types of infections. Antivirus software only protects against viruses and some companies have added the ability to scan for certain trojans (a type of infected file which opens a hole to allow multiple infections into a computer, even while protected with software). With the very best antivirus software, complete with all of its updates, users are still not protected 100% against viruses. Malware has become so diverse and so wide spread, it is near impossible to create an application to give protection against all the different types of malware. There are however many applications users can install to help fight against malware. Most are free but not all. Users considered to be fairly well protected could have as many as five of these applications installed and maybe more. Even the local Wal-Mart has software for sale to help with malware. Don’t be fooled into buying an application that advertises the ability to remove and prevent malware. There are plenty of free applications available for download from a multitude of websites to help fight against these evildoing programs. Microsoft themselves are working hard on applications to protect their platform from infection. You can find them for free on their website http://www.microsoft.com Just search for Microsoft AntiSpyware.

Having a secure computer is not as hard as most would believe at this point in the article. Microsoft issues updates via their webtools called “Windows Update” and “Microsoft Update”. Keeping a computer up to date with Microsoft and having the right applications installed and updated will yield a fairly secure system. Keep in mind though, there is not one computer on the face of this earth that is 100% protected, unless it is simply unplugged. If a computer is attached to any type of network including the world wide web, it has security risks. The Windows platform is currently the most troubled computer platform when it comes to malware. The only truth behind this fact is that Microsoft’s Windows, of any version, is the number one target for malware programmers. Microsoft holds a massive majority of the market share on OS’s. Macintosh boasted for a short period, that their new operating system, OS X, was virus free, but even this is no longer true. There are some server based OS’s that are considered to be the safest in the world when it comes to security. Microsoft’s new Server 2003 and multiple forms of the Linux OS are deemed highly secure. These companies spend a massive amount of time making sure of this. That is why older OS’s like Windows 98 are no longer being updated. Newer more secure OS’s are being written and maintained. Soon Microsoft will call end of life on yet more of the older versions of Windows and stop updating. This is to free up resources to maintain and create newer versions of Windows, like Windows Vista, slated to release sometime in 2006.

Security can be further enhanced with other applications such as firewalls. Firewalls are not only in the form of software though. Most of today’s routers used to gain access to a WAN (Wide Area Network, used to provide internet services) have basic firewall abilities. Some routers have full out firewalls built in to give a level of protection above even the software firewalls. Hardware firewalls can also be purchased separate to be attached to a network between the router and internet connection or between the computer and router, depending on its use and purpose. Firewalls in a basic sense are small computers used to manage ports and network traffic (The World Wide Web is a very large type of network called a Wide Area Network or WAN for short). Ports are a series of addresses used to separate network traffic according to needs of the data being sent or received. The most common port known is port 80. Port 80 is where all HTTP (hyper text transfer protocol) or in layman’s terms, web browsing traffic comes through. While some malware does what is called “port scanning” a firewall will not be much protection against the majority of today’s infections, aside from blocking traffic attempting to use a closed port. A firewalls main purpose is to shield against “hackers”, a person who uses a network connection to illegally gain access to a remote computer.

Once infected with malware, there is a high chance the computer infected, has been compromised so, as to allow other infections in. This is where Trojans come in. Trojans, as previously mentioned, open a hole in the security of the computer making it very easy to infect further. Most of today’s malware are Trojans or create Trojans upon infection. This fact alone makes cleaning very difficult.

Cleaning an infected computer takes hours of scans. More than 20 applications can be required and their scans must be run repeatedly. Before the first cleaning application can be run, the computer has to be booted into “Safemode” and then multiple preparations must be made. After this, in a certain sequence, the cleaning tools are run. This process must be repeated a number of times, until each of the applications report a clean system. After the computer has been cleaned, then all the updates must be done. Remember, Windows and Microsoft updates are released to help fight against malware and other problems. Once the system has been cleaned and updated, the professional cleaning apps are removed and only the “User Friendly” ones are left installed. The applications usually left on are more for prevention than cleaning. However there are some that prevent major problems by cleaning minor ones off. Once the computer is returned to its normal state of use, up to 5 different applications are needed, to be run on a weekly basis as to help prevent reinfection. Keep in mind, no computer is ever 100% safe, so reinfection may be possible even after a complete reload of the OS and malware software reinstall. The user is fairly safe provided they run the software weekly and keep their computer up to date.

In summery, most users are not aware of the potential possibilities of these infections. They are usually not as concerned about these threats until they contract enough malware to cause their computer to act in a displeasing manner. After this point it takes hours of scans and updates to bring the system back to a fully functional state. We hope this helps you to understand this problem a little better with hopes that you will act upon this ongoing threat immediately.


SPYWARE

Definition: any software that covertly gathers information about a user while he/she navigates the Internet and transmits the information to an individual or company that uses it for marketing or other purposes.

MALWARE

Definition: software, such as viruses, intended to damage or disable a computer system; short for malicious software; also written mal-ware.

HI-JACKER

Definition: 1: To swindle or subject to extortion. 2: A holdup man who stops a vehicle and steals from it 3: Someone who uses force to take over a vehicle (especially an airplane) in order to reach an alternative destination.

VIRUS

Definition: A program or piece of code that "infects" one or more other programs by embedding a copy of itself in them. When these programs are executed, the embedded virus is executed too, thus spreading the "infection". This normally happens invisibly to the user and may cause damage to system files.