I think I have virus on my computer! What do I do? – Don’t worry, we will let you know what to do.
Hello, and good afternoon everyone! Today, what we are going to do is to learn how to scan for computer virus and how to get rid of them. People say computer virus, because computer virus was really popular in early generation who had personal computers (1990~). At that time, more than 90% things that damages your personal computer were by computer virus. Malware, Spyware, Trojan, and any other harmful programs were rare to find. Most of the computer virus was designed to destroy your personal computer, make your computer slower. Some of them were designed to steal information or designed to sneak in to your computer. In modern days, there are so many different types. Like Spyware, Malware, Adware, Spyware, Worm, and etc.. Let’s learn what they can do to your computer! (All of Definitions are from Wikipedia)
Virus – A computer virus is a type of malicious software program (“malware”) that, when executed, replicates itself by modifying other computer programs and inserting its own code. Infected computer programs can include, as well, data files, or the “boot” sector of the hard drive. When this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be “infected” with a computer virus.
Trojan Horse – Trojans are generally spread by some form of social engineering, for example where a user is duped into executing an e-mail attachment disguised to be unsuspicious, (e.g., a routine form to be filled in), or by drive-by download. Although their payload can be anything, many modern forms act as a backdoor, contacting a controller which can then have unauthorized access to the affected computer. Trojans may allow an attacker to access users’ personal information such as banking information, passwords, or personal identity (IP address). Ransomware attacks are often carried out using a Trojan.
Spyware – Spyware is software that aims to gather information about a person or organization without their knowledge, that may send such information to another entity without the consumer’s consent, or that asserts control over a device without the consumer’s knowledge.
Worm – A computer worm is a standalone malwarecomputer program that replicates itself in order to spread to other computers. Often, it uses a computer network to spread itself, relying on security failures on the target computer to access it. Worms almost always cause at least some harm to the network, even if only by consuming bandwidth, whereas viruses almost always corrupt or modify files on a targeted computer.
Ransomeware – Ransomware is a type of malicious software from cryptovirology that threatens to publish the victim’s data or perpetually block access to it unless a ransom is paid. While some simple ransomware may lock the system in a way which is not difficult for a knowledgeable person to reverse, more advanced malware uses a technique called cryptoviral extortion, in which it encrypts the victim’s files, making them inaccessible, and demands a ransom payment to decrypt them. In a properly implemented cryptoviral extortion attack, recovering the files without the decryption key is an intractable problem – and difficult to trace digital currencies such as Ukash and Bitcoin are used for the ransoms, making tracing and prosecuting the perpetrators difficult.
Adware – advertising-supported software, is any software package that automatically renders advertisements in order to generate revenue for its author.
There are more, but those types of virus are the most common types in modern computer world. So, for people who are not a computer expert, the easiest way to ensure that you are clear is to install an anti-virus or an anti-malware apps. Most of them provides real-time protection, and manual virus scan features. Here we are introducing some of free anti-virus programs for Windows. Are you looking for one for Mac? Don’t worry, many of them also supports Mac and other Apple operating systems. Make sure after you install an anti-virus app, run a manual virus scan, and delete everything it detects. We hope your computer is secure! 😀 😀 😀
List of free anti-virus programs
Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition
Bitdefender is one of the best free Antivirus programs you can have on your computer. It provides excellent detection and removal rates. Here is the website link for download: http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/free.html
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free
We do recommend Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free because of it’s effectiveness. Now days, instead of Virus, there are so many Adware, and Malware. They are not considered as Virus from many different Antivirus programs, and therefore they do not protect you from advertisement, and popups. This one does really good job in protecting you from advertising popups, and Malware. Downside is, the free version does not offer you a real time protection. You have to run manual scan to find Virus. Here is the website link for download: https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/
Avast Free Antivirus
Avast Free Antivirus provides numerous security-related bonus features. That’s what makes the Avast a good Antivirus. The performance is not as good as other competitors, but It does provide you extra features that you cannot find on other Antivirus. One of the feature is “Home Network Security”. It does scan your home or company network to ensure security. Here is the website link for download: https://www.avast.com/index
AVG AntiVirus Free
AVG AntiVirus provides easy to use interface, and has all features that you need. Specially, it comes with website safety feature which helps you to stop visiting dangerous website by blocking the bad websites. This kind of feature can be often found on paid Antivirus programs, but it is free with AVG. The performance is not the best class, but above average and it’s FREE ! Here is the website link for download: http://free.avg.com/ca-en/homepage
Avira Free Antivirus
Avira Free Antivirus is one of the best free antivirus. It is easy to use, and it has a special feature like real-time cloud scanning – Our Protection Cloud is our early warning system, which analyzes unknown files in the cloud anonymously from millions of users, to protect you from zero-day threats as they emerge in real time. Here is the website link for download: http://www.avira.com/en/avira-free-antivirus
Panda Free Antivirus
Panda Free Antivirus is also a great free protection for your computer. 🙂 🙂 🙂 It is also one of the best free Antivirus you can get. It does provide excellent performance. Only downside is, unlike the other free Antivirus programs, the Panda Antivirus free version does not offer bonus features. It only provides Virus protection. It is not really a downside since you can purchase one with more features if you like the Panda products 😀 😀 Here is the website link for download:http://www.pandasecurity.com/usa/homeusers/solutions/free-antivirus/
Microsoft Security Essentials
Microsoft also has free Antivirus for Windows users. From Windows 8 and above, the Microsoft Security Essentials is already installed. If you are using Windows 7 and older, you can use it. The performance is not so great, but it is reliable, and it also runs light on your Windows compare to other Antivirus 🙂 🙂 🙂 Here is the website link for download: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security-essentials-download
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