Recommendations
- It's impossible to know all the threats circulating in the wild. But it's a good idea to use more than one tool for finding and eliminating Trojans, viruses, and any other bad actors that may have laid claim to your system.
One of the best tools for clearing a PC of malware is the free Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (more info). Note that only the paid version of the program provides real-time scanning for malware.
Most of the major antivirus vendors also offer free online scans you can employ without having to purchase the full product. For example, Symantec offers Security Check, Kapersky provides Free Virus Scan, Trend Micro has House Call, McAfee offers FreeScan, and so on. Running several of these may uncover infections that any one tool might miss by itself.
And of course, you also need to patch whatever hole let the malware in. For sure, replace IE 6 (even if you never surf using IE 6) with IE 7 or 8, both of which provide security features that IE 6 will never have.
- If you are a Cox Internet customer then you should use the free McAfee security suite products provided by Cox. Read about it here.
If you are not a Cox subscriber then AntiMaulware, Adaware & Spybot Search and Destroy are a good choices to start and they're free! The free version of these products should help keep your computer working. The disadvantage of the free version is that you have to scan and update manually but a good choice if you are on a budget.
- Use a web browser other than Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer 8 had made significant improvements but other browsers can offer better protection while browsing the web.
Good alternatives include :
- You should also use an anti-virus program.
Anti-virus guide
Maximum PC review of anti-virus programs
I use the free version of Avira AntiVir
- Scareware you should aviod. Web sites often try to dupe users to download their scanning software by scaring users with messages saying that you have been infected. The sites listed at the top of this page are safe to use but be careful if you are prompted to use a scanner from another site. This is espically true if you are prompted when surfing the web. Often this software will actually infect your system. Check this list to make sure you aren't using one of these products.
Useful Links
Lessons and Conclusions
By the way here's what I already know about you:
How do I know this??? - It's easy, you are connected to the Web
Updated 02/04/2010 |
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