Viruses, Spyware, Malware, Trojans, Adware, Rootkits. There are many names and categories, but they all do things to your computer that you don’t want. It is estimated that everyone is infected with 5.5 malware on their computer. There isn’t a universal way to stop them, but some common sense and awareness can really help. Don’t open up random attachments. Don’t download software you did not specifically request. Don’t share files.
Antivirus and Antimalware programs can help, but they cannot catch absolutely all that is out there. Some may even run more than one program to catch all the malicious software out there. I have personally run many tests all the different antisvirus programs. Surpassingly I’ve found that the free ones are just as good, if not better as the commercial ones. I advise you to run at least one of the recommended antivirus programs I recommend. Spybot and Adaware are no longer enough. As always Backup, backup, backup, as many viruses cannot be removed without windows being left in shambles.
Beware of fake websites that pretend to be antivirus.
Spoof antispyware sites. A new threat are rogue antivirus sites. These pop up with fake virus detection warnings. They then offer to remove them for a fee. These are getting extreme prevalent and extremely hard to detect if they are malicious or not. Not only do they cause headaches, they attempt to steal your money by bribing for your credit card in order to get rid of it. If you notice any pop-ups showing a scan for viruses, press Esc a couple times and close the web browser (alt-F4). Your regular antivirus program may not pick up on this, so always keep an eye out!
Recommended products:
Avira Antivir Personnal – link
This is the most lightweight and tough antivirus program available currently. It uses very little system resources and catches a good deal of virus and even malware. If you have Norton, Symantec, McAfee, I recommend you uninstall them and install this instead.
Asquare antimalware – link
Asquared makes a very tough antimalware program that has antispyware, antimalware, and firewall all in one. It is good at catching things antivirus may miss.
Antimalware Toolkit -link
this rescue kit automatically downloads popular free antimalware apps to your computer. This pretty much rounds out the protection on top of the first two applications. It includes Spyware blaster, CCleaner, RogueRemover, SUPERantispyware, Spybot, Hijack this, and other gems.