how serious is Malware?

DMGrier

VIP Member
I am aware malware is out there but I am curious on how do you get it? Does it sneak it's way through when you are downloading or streaming stuff? Is there a good free Malware scanner out there?
 
some of the best malware scanners are

malwarebytes

iobit malware fighter

microsoft malicious software removal tool
 
Malware is Basically the electronics equivalent to communicable diseases in biologicals. Some of it is benign, most forms cause some kind of dysfunction, whether it is data loss, overall system slowdown, occasionally catastrophic failure.

Like most diseases, the primary goal of malware is to spread itself to other hosts. Additionally, since malware is manufactured, it usually has a secondary purpose such as gathering information from a system to be forwarded to the author or capturing the system to be used as a launching point for malicious attacks in one form or another.

It is serious business.

Most malware is downloaded through bad internet habits-- downloading pornographic materials, illegal software or media downloads; and through careless opening of suspicious email.

Just like in biologicals, hygiene is important. 'Inoculation' via an anti-virus program and regular scanning to check for and isolate malware will go a long way toward ensuring the health of your electronic system.


... :rolleyes: sadly, that looks a lot like the crap I periodically flush out of the forums I moderate.

argh.gif
I'll be pretty pissed if some two-bit spammer steals this to post for use building post-count in other forums.
 
Interesting comment but still lost. I know some malaware is in a virus form. I thought virus and malaware had something to do with cookies and script controls. ive tried turning off script controls but seems to be required by most sites. good or bad. Know i don't know, just interested also.
 
All right, then how about this:

Malware, such as computer viruses, worms, and Trojan Horses, are small programs designed to infiltrate an unsuspecting user's computer, copy themselves over and over, and use that computer as a launching point to infect other computers.

So, some guy wirtes this tiny little program. It takes advantage of flaws in a software program, be it a browser, email reader, or even a word processing program to insert itself into the users hard drive and take over the system.

Some of these programs are also designed to copy personal information to be sent back to the maker-- credit card numbers, account numbers and passwords, etc. Or it may set up the computer to be used as a zombie for concerted denial-of-service attacks against large internet servers, or to spread more malware, to upload illegal software to the internet such as hacked programs or kiddie porn.

So, not only does it consume resources on your computer, it also uses your computer to wreak further havoc, not to mention robbing you of money when someone steals your identity.
 
Good, liked it. thanks. Always worried but take precautions if buying on the internet. I always use a virtual keyboard for passwords and credit cards. Have a Asus Eee i use mostly for business and its a straight shooter and clean for heavy business purpose.
 
There are many ways a virus can sneak through and if you do not have an anti-virus you probably wouldn't know until it was too late and in the worst cases somebody stole your bank account details.

- DBD( Drive by download ). A script is on a webpage which acts maliciously and many times out of 10 downloads a harmful program onto your pc.
- Email - Open an email or an email attachment and your pc gets infected through the program that was downloaded.
- Website download - Download a harmful program from a website to your pc... If your pondering if a file may be malicious download and save it to a zipped folder where the virus cannot move through the system. Then scan the file for malicious software.
- Attacked directly to pc. In your system legal downloaded items may contain vulnerabilities which can be used to make loopholes to hackers which can use those loopholes for direct access to your pc. I don't fully understand this one but I do know to prevent this problem remember to keep your software up to date

There are a couple more but the major types are listed above..
 
Your right also. Its just funny it can be very hard to stop. I use Kapersky internet security. I have many admin accounts for backup. i watch email i open. My problem has been searching from google that has got me into trouble. Didn't mean to go there, just thought i could find what i wanted. then the virus program pops up and says something like warning Kaspersky blocked it. posted in security section and JohnB said clear. good to go.
then ya just don't know. Not saying how i got it. Saying the answer is block script controls and and delete cookies. then ya cant get into a site anyway. Mostly stuff with cookies for saving passwords etc for here. and other sites. many site that are legit will not let ya in if ya block script controls. Oh well. can't change it. Nobody else ever could, just do the best ya can.
 
So what I am worrying is it possible for good sites to get it, I really only come online to the forum, youtube and funnyordie.com usually. Anything else I get from the internet is is either from Adobe or Microsoft i.e. downloading my music from the Zune market place which I assume I will not have to worry about those two giving me anything.
 
I agree. every single program ya buy or freeware may have some form and writing too your drive. a virus program will detect it as maybe suspicious or some virus. If you know where your going and nobody else is i would not worry about it. On places that may have gotten me into trouble is searching on like google. (looking for information) and not getting where i want to be.
Just my thought. Been brought up many times. if your slow or something then defrag, run freeware malawarebytes, CCleaner and be done with it.
Also checking email. if you use credit cards, access email accounts on line then use a virtual keyboard for typing passwords and creditcard numbers.

I have not seen where a malicious virus is tracking any of these.
NOT YET..............
 
So what I am worrying is it possible for good sites to get it, I really only come online to the forum, youtube and funnyordie.com usually. Anything else I get from the internet is is either from Adobe or Microsoft i.e. downloading my music from the Zune market place which I assume I will not have to worry about those two giving me anything.

It is possible to get infected from an otherwise reputable site, it's happened before, but it is rare.

Sony, for instance...
 
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