ONLINE REMOTE VIRUS REMOVAL AVAILABLE
There are quite a few resources and services available to help you remove viruses, but what about the preventative maintenance? Even with real-time protection, you can still get malware on your system. To avoid getting viruses, there are a few safe-search practices you can employ to help protect your system better. The following are the most common malware transporters. Or ways to access malware which leads to unexpected virus downloads.
Email. Virus executables can be hidden in the form of images, documents, or other common files and sent via email. Try to avoid multiple forwarded emails. Watch for subjects such as ‘watch this’ or vague subjects. Was the email sent from a trusted source? Avoid following embedded links or opening and running files in emails that are not from a trusted source.
Torrent Downloads. uTorrent, bitTorrent, LimeWire, Napster and others are file sharing, or P2P applications that allow you to upload and download files across the Internet. Although these applications aren’t viruses themselves, they cannot monitor all files and folders transferred on the network. Basically, you never know what your downloading. They also run on your system in the background, opening up a network connection and allowing access to your files and folders for you to share. If you must use these applications, ensure they arent running on your system all the time and use caution when downloading. Some also ask if you would like to install Internet add-ons such as toolbars, browser buttons, system boosters, etc. Do not install these. Typically these are Ad-supported and can lead to false search results or malicious activity.
Internet Add-Ons: Quite often when you install a new product, 3rd party software is ‘bundled’ with the download. These extras are typically Internet Browser toolbars, Browser Helper objects (BHOs), Browser Buttons, and often some form of System enhancer, registry optimizer or other PC related aid for your computer or network connection. Again, these are not typically viruses themselves, but lead to biased internet search results and that are not controlled or audited as well as some of the larger commercial Internet search products on the market. Well-known indexing and search companies such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, MSN, etc work diligently to ensure search results and marketed ads do not contain malicious content. Others are not so diligent. Use caution when downloading products from sources.
Free Stuff. Free is rarely ever free. Often products and services available for download may not cost dollars, but cost something. Often these free products are bundled with adware. Other products such as some free online gaming platforms use tracking cookies and other spyware to watch activity to then provide you biased results when using there bundled search bars or other browsing tools. Use caution. Always check out and research a product before downloading. And when downloading, take your time to read the fine print and see what your checking, or clicking and what your actually agreeing to. Adware is legal, as long as it is legally documented in the terms of service. Check it.
Overall, viruses usually start out minor and get worse. It usually starts with some ad-supported tools and tracking cookies which leads to biased search results or ad pop-ups that aren’t so friendly. These lead to further issues, and soon you have full-blown malicious activity on your system. Just surf-safely and research websites and downloads before committing.
For more information on protecting your system from viruses and how over protecting your system can be harmful read: Too Much Antivirus Protection
