Viruses and other malware continue to threaten computer users with sluggish performance, Internet and email problems, and privacy issues. It is important to have protective tools in place before an attack, because removing an infection once it has begun its damage can be difficult and costly. If you have an email-only type of connection you are just as vulnerable as someone with a complete, high-speed Internet service. And even if your Internet service provides virus protection on their server, you ought to install antivirus and antispyware/malware protection on your personal computer as well. Better to be as safe as possible rather than sorry.

First, make sure you have reliable antivirus software installed on your computer, and learn how it works. Be certain to keep it up-to-date: ensure that virus definitions are updating automatically. This will enable the software to recognize and clean the dozen new viruses being introduced to the web almost daily. Not all antivirus software is created equal. Do some research to find which ones are recommended. Lately, Avast and AVG have done well in the ratings and, best of all, they are free for home computers running Windows (see http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html and http://free.avg.com/download-avg-anti-virus-free-edition.

Next, there are two applications we recommend for cleaning spyware from your computer. Go to www.superantispyware.com/download.html to download the installer for SuperAntiSpyware. Then, download and install MalwareBytes from http://www.malwarebytes.org/. After installing these products, update them and then run a full-system scan with each. Downloading the free versions of each of these will allow you to clean the spyware from your computer. However, the free versions do not prevent spyware from tampering with your PC—the paid versions will, so consider purchasing one or both. While it is not a problem to have several antispyware applications running on your computer, it is not generally recommended to have two antivirus programs loaded. They tend to conflict with each other and they will slow your computer to a crawl.

For web browsing, consider using Mozilla’s Firefox. It boasts better security than Internet Explorer. For more information, go to http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ and read what others have said. Spyware originates from malicious web sites. These sites will, through a security breach or other weakness in the web browser, download and install a small application on your computer that will deliver pop-up ads and other annoyances—some more serious than others. A good utility that warns you if a site is potentially malicious is McAfee’s Site Advisor. It will work with both Firefox and Internet Explorer, and it is free. Download it from http://www.siteadvisor.com/download/ff.html.

If your computer is new, or has recently been formatted (with Windows being freshly installed), now is the time to put these measures in place. There are no guarantees that you will never see any spyware on your computer, but preventing most of it is much easier than opening the door for any and all attacks and then trying to remove them. Esh Computer Center can restore your computer if you are unable to do it yourself. We will also attempt to put these security measures into place to prevent future infections. Remember - keeping your computer is up to you. Stay informed, do your research, and practice safe computing. A clean computer is a happy computer.

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A serious threat to Windows computers (known by such names as Conficker, Downup, Downadup, and Kido) has reportedly infected almost nine million computers worldwide. The activity of this Worm should remind us of how important it is to keep Windows and our AntiVirus/AntiSpyware software up-to-date. A patch to prevent this virus was offered by Microsoft back in October 2008, and one source reports that thirty percent of Windows users failed to apply it.

Once infected, the worm disables those services that allow Windows to download and install security patches and other critical updates. It does the same thing to your antivirus software, preventing it from staying current and, basically, it leaves your computer even more vulnerable than it was before. It will collect personal information as well as download and install additional malware. It can even lock you out of your computer.

If you suspect you have been hit by this virus and are still able to connect to the Internet, try downloading the Downadup Removal Tool from Symantec at
http://www.symantec.com/norton/security_response/removaltools.jsp. Otherwise, you will need to bring your computer into Esh Computer Center in order to fix the problem.

The importance of keeping Windows up-to-date (along with your antivirus/antispyware software) cannot be stressed enough. For example, if you have not updated Windows to at least Service Pack 2 (SP3 is available), then you are out of luck because no security patch was issued for systems running Windows with Service Pack. This means you will be vulnerable for repeated attacks from Conficker/Downadup as well as other viruses. Unfortunately, a dial-up connection makes it difficult to keep a modern computer current. The updates can be quite large and take time to download. Consider switching to a DSL or Cable Internet connection, especially if you have a newer computer, or soon plan on purchasing one.

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