Is My PC Infected With Malware?- By Sylvester Maslang

Malware, or malicious software, is a general term which includes viruses, worms, Trojan horses, rootkit, spyware and key loggers and more. It is designed to disrupt computer operations, steal sensitive data, and gain access to private computer networks. The first malicious applications were created as pranks, but in early 2000 hackers began using malware for profit.

The cost of malware can financially (and psychologically) be devastating. Cyber-criminals can use the stolen information to get your money direct from your bank account or simply sell your data on the Black market. Equally bad is that as these criminal organizations operate across international borders it is difficult if not impossible for authorities to trace them.

This might mean losing your hard-earned money, your identity being stolen or paying excessive credit card bills at the end of the month. For businesses, it might mean not only expensive recovery procedures, but also that customers lose faith in your ability to hold their most sensitive information such as credit card details.

Knowing when you're infected is as important as knowing how to fix and prevent it. Here are a few general symptoms that may indicate that your PC is infected with malware.

Common symptoms of malware

Performance-wise, you may notice that your computer runs slower than usual. It freezes, hangs or become unresponsive and at times, it will may even restart by itself for no valid reason. You will often see new icons on your desktop or applications that you do not recognize. And, you're unable to access important tools such as the control panel, task manager, registry editor or command prompt.

When trying to visit websites, you may receive the error "Internet Explorer could not display the page" when attempting to access certain websites. Sometimes your web browser freezes, hangs, or is unresponsive and often the browser's default home page is changed. When navigating, you can get redirected to other web pages and get a lot of annoying pop-up messages. You'll often see new toolbars on your browser that you know you did not download.

An obvious malware sign is if your contacts receive an email from you asking them to open an attachment or to click on a malicious link.

If in doubt, scan your system

It's really quite difficult to tell if your PC is infected with malware or if the symptoms are caused by other legitimate reasons such as software or hardware incompatibilities or system instability. The only way to be sure is to scan your system for malware. There are many free online scanners on the web and with good reviews, be sure to choose one with comprehensive malware detection, very low false positive, one-click activation and a decent scan speed.

The future of malware attacks

Malware attacks are becoming more sophisticated all the time making them increasingly difficult to detect and remove. As these have evolved the potential financial damage to both individuals and businesses has also increased.

We expect that malware developers will continue to take advantage of the vulnerabilities found in Bring-Your-Own-Devices (BYOD) and cloud computing given the increasing popularity of BYOD and migration from the traditional computing environment to cloud resources.

Frighteningly, malware is now focused more on evasion than propagation and attackers will have the patience, resources and knowledge to carry out a sustained and sophisticated attacks. In the past malware was designed to do maximum damage as fast as possible, but now they are designed as sleepers, sitting waiting for the right time to take action, just as you are doing your internet banking or another sensitive time.

Protecting yourself

Here are steps to secure your PC from malware.

1. Buy an antivirus program.

Install an antivirus that provides a complete, comprehensive and in-depth anti-malware solution, with an integrated personal firewall, social media scanner and anti-theft. There are many other antivirus products available, but I strongly advise that you get one that you are confident has all of the advanced features expected in an advanced security product like social network scanning and advanced heuristics.

2. Keep your system updated

For Windows, it is best to set your "Windows update" to run automatically. Updates fix bugs which are being used by malicious people to hack into your system and install malware. Don't forget, that updates are also needed for third-party applications like Java, Flash and Adobe Reader.

3. Click through only to trusted sites and links

When searching online, stay away from suspicious sites. Do not just open a link posted in your social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Always hover your cursor on the link to check if the URL address is the correct address. If in doubt use an online link scanner where you can paste a link and check the link's reputation with various scanning engines.

4. Don't open suspicious email attachments

Malware is often hidden in attachments and opening the attachment will install the malware into your PC. This includes auto preview, so if you use a preview pane this will increase the risks of malicious attachments.

5. Restrict or prohibit Peer-to-Peer (P2P) applications

Peer to Peer or File Sharing applications are notorious for distributing malware. The most common files that have malware are expensive applications, key generation tools and porn.

Sylvester Maslang is a manager, writer/blogger and a rap enthusiast. As a writer, he is affiliated with Effortless IT offering technology, security and internet advice. With a dedicated team, Effortless IT and their partner website esetprotection.com.au strive to stay ahead of the game on all things technical.

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