Malware
Malware – (for “malicious software”) is software designed to infiltrate and damage a computer system without the user’s informed consent. Thus, malware includes computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and also spyware, programming that gathers information about the computer user without permission.
The effects of Malware will result in:
- Delete and change files
- Hard Drives are erased
- Release confidential information stored on the user’s desktop computer by e-mailing to random e-mail addresses or the source of the malware provider
- Manipulate the user’s security settings
Ways to verify that Malware has affected you:
- Your desktop suddenly runs a lot slower than normal
- Files and folders are missing or unknown files and folder appear
- Programs open and close on their own, or no longer work
- Random error or warning message begin to appear
Ways to prevent Malware from infecting your computer:
- Install and update your antivirus software, such as McAfee or Symantec. Check with IT personnel to find out if you already have the latest antivirus software installed on your computer, of if you have any questions.
- Be cautious of unusually large e-mail attachments or those with executable extensions (e.g., .exe, .com, .bat, .vbs, or .dll). If you recognize the name in the “FROM:” line doesn’t ensure that the attached file is virus-free.
- Scan files from portable media (e.g. CDs/DVDS, zip disks, or thumb flash drives) before opening them. You can do this manually, or you can set your antivirus software to automatically scan files being transferred to or copied from external media.
- Use discretion when allowing dialog boxes pop-up, when asking you to install various software like ActiveX control (e.g., a media player or an interactive animation) to run, some of these type of software could be an attack script.
- Configure your browser like Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer to a secure browser setting that would automatically detect and disallow potentially dangerous
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