Malware are malicious software’s such as spyware, viruses, Trojan, and adware’s that act without the knowledge of the user with the main purpose of causing severe damage to the system and altering its operation.
These malicious programs are written by unscrupulous computer programmers; they can slow down your computer and internet connection, and even make the PC unstable.
TYPES OF MALWARE
Virus: Computer virus is a damaging computer program that attaches itself to clean files and infect them. They spread within a short while and cause uncontrollable damage to the system functionality, while corrupting and deleting files.
Trojan: This type of malware looks like a legitimate program, it acts unnoticeably and creates backdoors to let other malware in.
Spyware: Spyware is a malware designed to spy the system by hiding in the background and taking note of your online activities such as your passwords, and credit card details.
Worm: Worm is a program that infects the entire network devices and copies itself repeatedly.
Ransomware: Ransomware is a malware that locks your system and even erases all files if a ransom is not paid to the owner.
Adware: Adware are malicious programs that cause unwanted advertisements to be displayed on your Pc regularly.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR COMPUTER FROM MALWARE
Backup your files: Backing up your data both offline and online regularly is the best way to protect your system against malware. Offline backup ensures that you recover from malware, errors or natural accident while online backup protects your data against theft, hardware failure, and natural accident.
Update your Windows: It is very important to always install the latest Windows updates on your system. Doing this protect your system from hackers. To check if your system is up to date, go to Setting, Update and Security, Windows Updates and Click on Check for updates. Apart from Windows updates, you must also ensure that you also update your software once in a while.
Upgrade to Windows 10: If you are running on Window 8.1 or 7, you should consider upgrading to Windows 10 which is more secure. The fact remains that older versions of Windows are more open to attack than new versions; this is because New Windows releases come with security improvement.
Install a firewall: Firewall is hardware or software-based application that helps to block malicious attacks from viruses, worms, and hackers trying to access your system from the internet. To ensure that your firewall is enabled, click on Control Panel, System and Security, Windows Firewall. Then Turn on Window Firewall for both private and public networks.
Install an antivirus: Antivirus help to detect and remove malware before they compromise your data and slow down your computer and network. Note that it isn’t enough to install Anti-virus, it is also very important to keep them updated.
Be at alert: The best way to protect your system against malware is to stay one step ahead by doing the following:
When checking emails, open those sent only by people you know and delete those that look suspicious. Ensure that you do not click on images, links or pop-up that doesn’t seem legit.
Use Modern browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge which have evolved in the past years and have the best in-built security.
Ensure that you download apps from Windows Stores only
WHAT TO DO IF YOUR SYSTEM GET INFECTED
To get rid of Malware from your PC, strictly follow these steps
Step 1: Put your system in safe mode
The first step to getting rid of Malware from your PC is to disconnect your system from the internet; this will help prevent the Malware from leaking your private data. However, if you think that your system has an infection, boot your computer into Microsoft’s Safe Mode. This is very important because it will prevent any malware file from loading immediately the system is turned on. To boot your system into Window Safe Mode follow these steps: Click the start button in your window. Select the power button; as if you want to reboot your system, bust don’t click anything. Press down the shift key and click reboot. When the full-screen menu appears, select troubleshooting, then advanced option and then the startup settings. Click restart button and wait for the next screen to appear, you will see a menu with numbered startup options, select number 4, which is the safe mode
Step 2: Ensure that you delete all temporary files
The next step is to run a brief scan on your system. However, before doing that you must get rid of all unnecessary temp files. Doing this will help speed up the virus scanning process, free up more space and get rid of some malware. You can use the Disk Cleanup utility to delete all temp files.
Step 3: Run a scan on your system
The third step is to carry out a malware scan, to do this you need to use a different scanner from the active antivirus program on your system since your current antivirus software could not have detected the malware. If you think that your PC has been infected, then you must use an on-demand scanner like Bit Defender, Kaspersky Virus Removal Tools, and Microsoft Software removal tool, then follow up with the real-time antivirus program.
Step 4: Download AdwCleaner
After running a scan on your system, the next step is to download a Malware Cleaner. There are so many of them on the internet, while some are paid for while others are free. You can choose to download AdwCleaner which is an excellent tool for Malware removal. To use the AdwCleaner, Download AdwCleaner and save on your PC. Click on the downloaded tool and agree with the program license presented to you. The window will prompt you as to whether to run or not, click on the run. After running, choose the scan button in AdwCleaner, the program will search for all Malware that may have been installed on your system by mistake
After the scan, AdwCleaner will display all malicious items found in the result section. To remove the Malware that was detected, click on the clean button on the AdwCleaner screen. AdwCleaner will auto-prompt you to save all open files because all programs need to be closed be before it starts to clean. After saving, AdwCleaner will delete all detected files; then you will be asked to reboot your system, click on the OK button to let AdwCleaner restart your computer.
Step 5: Reset your browser.
After removing the infestation, you must ensure that the malware does not return to your system when the computer is switched on, one way of doing this is by resetting your browser and home page, ensuring that your Host file has now been hijacked, and also making sure that you do not add unnecessary websites to your trusted sites.
Finally, it isn’t enough for you to get rid of Malware from your system, you must also look out for ways of avoiding future infestation by being conscious of what kinds of programs you download and install on your system. Before installing any program, carry out detailed research about the program and ensure your system browser security is up to date.