Home PC-FIX can carry out a full malware removal & system clean (including collect & return to your house). If you suspect your computer is infected and want me to do the hard work for you, I can take your machine away, and return it to you clean. Full comprehensive scans are carried out on a dedicated rig using three types of virus and spyware scanning and removal tools. Due to the time taken for three scans a 24hr return service is offered, though sometimes for urgent jobs a same day return can be arranged.
Malware (What is it??):
The term Malware is a generic term that covers all malicious software that can infect your machine and comes in three basic "breeds":
Viruses (including worms and trojans).
Spyware (cookies, data phishing, keyloggers etc)
Adware (annoying pop-ups, fake & rogue software and "browser hijackers")
All types of malware have various ways to get onto your computer - these are the main methods:
- Email attachment files of any type which are from senders you don't recognise or untrusted.
- Adult or gambling websites.
- Opening or downloading unknown video files.
- Opening or downloading software from an untrusted source including file-sharing.
- Not having an effective firewall also leaves your PC vulnerable to attack (especially true for an "always on" LAN connection).
- Running "Freebie" downloaded programs that again are not from a trusted source
Viruses:
The good news is that the "old school" type virus that used to infect machines and cause mayhem, such as wiping the hard drive, is actually a very rare event these days. The bad news is that viruses have become a lot stealthier and instead of causing obvious malicious havoc, they work "under cover" and do nasty things that actually generate revenue for the creator (or virus programmer). This could include activities such as hijacking your email account to send out spam-advertising. The generic terms used to classify viruses include: worms, trojans & actual viruses (rare). Trojans are fairly common as they can hide themselves within a harmless looking file such as a word document or video file. Trojan files can be disguised as macro code in Word documents, Excel files or even photo attachments. Although most anti-virus software these days gives you good protection from viruses getting on your system, watch out and be wary of file sharing and opening unknown email attachments.
Spyware:
As the title suggests it is software that actually spies on you and tries to steal your personal information. This could simply be your name and address, but also could be more serious like your credit card details to commit credit card fraud. The method used is called data phishing. This can either be by employing clever stealthy techniques such as key logging or by simply looking at a website can save personal data about you in a file called a cookie. Sometimes this is perfectly legitimate and simply saves you time logging into sites such as Facebook, Hotmail, Amazon and Ebay for example. "Bad cookies" are from other unwanted sites (advertising or otherwise) that keep personal data about you.. This is why it is a good idea to periodically clean all cookies off your system using a tool such as Ccleaner.
Adware:
This is more of a problem than viruses these days and is the most common domestic malware problem I have to deal with. If you have ever had a pop-up message suddenly appear giving a warning that your system is at risk from viruses/spyware; is running slow and needs fixing and is not a security program you have installed yourself, then the likelihood is that its Adware. By clicking on these, you will be taken to a website where it will ask you to pay a sum of money to remove the "so called" threat. These pop-ups are particularly nasty because they falsely make you believe you are at risk then convince you to purchase the fake software. Apart from anything else pop-ups of this nature are very annoying. Equally annoying is the type of adware or rogue software that hijacks your browser to an advertising site or opens a dodgy site like gambling or worse (of an adult nature). All these symptoms are not only annoying, crippling the function of your computer, they are completely criminal and a form of theft in your own home and at least they cause alot of unecessary anxeity and at worst cause the unknowing victims to actually part with their money.
To minimise your risk and exposure to malware, just follow these simple rules and you should be fine:-
- Don't open an email attachment if it is from a sender you don't know. Even if you know them don't open the file if it is an executable program file (*.exe).
- Avoid "dodgy" websites where-ever possible, as they make you more vulnerable to attack. Beware of "free" downloads (they are likely to harbour trojans) . The same goes for downloading or running video files (except of course recognised legitimate sites such as the BBC iPlayer).These include adult sites and gambling.
- If you have no firewall working and you're on the internet, then immediately you're open to Malware and attack from Hackers. This is especially true for most broadband routers that have an "always on" connection.
- Again the "nothing is free" rule holds for most things, apart from one or two well established free software such as AVG, Picassa , Paint.net etc. In general, if you don't recognise the program download file, don't run it. This applies especially if it runs from a pop-up that suddenly appears on your screen (this in itself is adware)
Malware Removal:
If you don't have a full, licensed security suite such as Norton or McAfee, I recommend 3 free tools to address Malware:
- AVG 2012 (free edition)
- Lavasoft Ad-aware 2012
- Spybot Search and Destroy (version 2)
- Microsoft Security Essentials (a great free security tool from microsoft)
AVG 2012 (free edition) takes care of all types of viruses; other tools will deal with most cases of Adware and Spyware, Microsoft Security Essentials, a free Microsoft product, gives you real-time protection from malicious software and includes a good firewall.
All these can be freely downloaded from www.filehippo.com (A great and safe general free-download site).
If, however, you suspect your computer is infected and want me to do the hard work for you, I can take your machine away, and return it to you clean. (The time it takes for full comprehensive scans prohibits me from doing this on site)
Security Suites (with subscription):
As far security software goes, the big players such as McAfee and Norton give good protection; however, if your machine is a few years old, I can't recommend these as they slow the machine down something chronic. I've had many customers whose machines are quite literally crippled by Norton (2008, 2009 or 360). Even brand new machines have a significant performance hit from these products. It is much better to go for the AVG 2012 security suite or Kaspersky 2012, which I can supply & set up for you for a very competitive price and it won't impact on your system's performance.
Kaspersky 2012 includes :- 
- 1 year licence for up to 3 machines
- Anti-virus
- Anti-spyware
- Anti-spam protection
- Intelligent Firewall
- Parental controls (if required)
- plus other features
"Best Security Suite Software" as reviewed in Personal Computer World Magazine.
