WHAT IS A COMPUTER VIRUS?

 

WHAT IS A COMPUTER VIRUS?

A virus is a type of malware - a harmful program created by hackers that can infect your computer or device in various ways. They can be really difficult to remove and can spread from device to device. Fortunately, we can take some steps to protect your devices, and we have some suggestions on how to remove a virus using Antivirus Software. How does a computer virus work? Programmers are the ones who write a virus to place, overwrite, or replace another program on your computer to reproduce itself without your knowing it.

A virus can cause various problems on an infected device. This can quickly consume all of your computer's available memory, slowing or stopping your system. Viruses can damage data, destroy files, format hard drives, or make discs unreadable. A virus can enter your computer as an email attachment, in a downloaded file, or hidden on a zip drive or CD. In general, the presence of a virus is not evident on a website, in an email or in another item.

 

Common symptoms of computer viruses

Your computer may have a virus if you have any of these problems:

• Suspension or blocking
• Lost or damaged files
• Problems saving files
• The computer restarts unexpectedly
• Programs open randomly
• Task manager won't open
• Constant pop-up boxes
• Much more spam than usual in email
• Windows updates won't install
• Cannot open files and folders
• Passwords changed
• Problems installing new software
• Considerable slowness in switching on and / or off
• Unexpected errors such as low memory and missing system files
• Hardware issues like an unresponsive keyboard or printer

How to avoid having a computer virus?

We have some precautions you can take to take care of your devices:

·         Install a recognized antivirus. Even if you don't take any other preventive measures, using an antivirus will offer your devices basic protection and monitoring against viruses. This ensures that if you do become infected, you will be warned quickly and can address the problem before the virus has a chance to do irreparable damage to your computer. 

·         Keep your virus definitions up to date. To be effective, antivirus software must be kept up to date. It is important that you download the latest virus definitions when your antivirus software tells you to. You can automate this task so you don't forget to run it. McAfee security  is cloud protection that offers continuous updates and monitoring, so you don't have to worry about updates.

·         Run your antivirus software routinely. Again, if you find this to be heavy (or just forget to do it), you can automate the task.

·         Be proactive. Analyze your files and programs. You can configure your antivirus software to automatically scan emails and files before opening / downloading them. It's good to scan ALL files, even if you trust the source.

·         Make backup copies of your files frequently. New malware is created daily. Having a backup of your data can save you if a virus bypasses your protection measures.

·         Keep your programs and operating system updated. This might seem like a challenge, but updates are essential to keep your computer virus-free. Updates often include patches to fix security vulnerabilities that could be exploited, and if you don't update your software, you could miss the latest update. You can also automate this task in your computer settings.

·         Protect your Wi-Fi network. Enabling a WPA password on your home Wi-Fi will help prevent unwanted users from entering your wireless network. If you need to provide the Internet to friends, most routers allow you to set up a guest network that allows them to use the Internet without giving them access to your main network, thus protecting you from potentially infected devices.

How to remove a computer virus

If you think your device is infected, the first step is to run a full antivirus scan. If your antivirus cannot remove the virus, these are the steps you should follow:

• Try doing an online search to find out how to remove the virus. You are likely to get the most accurate results if you know the name or source of the virus you suspect, or can describe the specific symptoms.

·         Call a professional. If you can't find a solution online, call an IT professional right away, before it gets bad..

Types of computer viruses

Now that you know what a computer virus is, you might be surprised to learn that there are many different types of computer viruses and that each of them affects your machine differently. Here are some of the different types of computer viruses that can affect your computer:

File infector virus

File infecting viruses are some of the most common computer viruses. They infect executable files on your device, and once the file is executed, the virus will rewrite the code in the file to perform an action that may or may not be malicious. These types of viruses can spread to other programs on your computer and should be removed as quickly as possible. 

Boot sector virus

Boot sector viruses generally spread through physical media such as flash drives, but they can also spread through email. They work by infecting the master boot record and can only infect your machine if they are used to boot the operating system. Fortunately, these viruses are not as prevalent as they used to be, but because they can be extremely destructive and difficult to remove, it is recommended to have preventative antivirus software to ensure that your machine does not contract this virus. 

Browser hijacker

Browser hijackers take control of your web browser to spy on the sites you browse or send you to sites that you may not intend to visit. The hacker does this to raise the ad revenue for the site. Also, these viruses can steal any personal information you enter on a site if they are spying on you; Therefore, if your browser starts to have strange behavior such as long loading times or excessive pop-ups, we highly recommend that you scan your device for viruses. They usually gain access to your computer through an infected browser extension and can be removed by running your antivirus software.

Polymorphic virus

Polymorphic computer viruses are some of the most complex viruses that your computer can become infected with. As the name implies, they can alter your code, making them difficult to detect and remove. They are a coded form of virus and use different encryption keys each time their underlying code changes. These types of computer viruses spread through a wide variety of media, including spam, infected files, or malware. Sophisticated antivirus software or an IT professional is usually required to remove these types of viruses.