Could Your Computer Be Infected?

One day, it happens: you notice that your computer is just not running as smoothly as it should. Things don't load as fast as they ought to, and unusual error messages pop up. Chances are, you've just discovered that your computer is infected with malicious software (malware), and you need to get rid of it straightaway with the aid of online malware removal tools.

Malware can be simply irritating, or it can be a total takeover of your computer. It can eat up all your documents and make them irretrievable, or it can gather your private information such as credit card numbers, enabling the malware's user to steal your identity.

Almost all recent malware is used for idenity theft purposes. It worms its way into your system, snapping up pieces of sensitive information and clearing the way for someone to steal your credit card number or bank information.

Occasionally, however, the malware will be a program that can use your computer to e-mail spam messages. These too range in severity, from goofy, garbled nonsense to something as illegal as child pornography.

The malware in your computer could potentially do any number of bad things. It could be a worm that destroys your data, a keylogger that steals your passwords, viruses that can actually damage your computer itself.

With so many people using the Internet today, there is ever-increasing opportunity for users of malware to steal from you. Estimations point to the number of malware existant today far exceeds that created in all of the past twenty years.

Scared yet? Don't panic. There are many ways that you can protect yourself, your computer, and your information from malicious programs. The four steps outlined in the next paragraphs contain advice that can help save you from would-be thieves.

1. The most obvious thing to do when you suspect that your computer may be infected with malware is to cease all online banking and purchase activity. You don't know if the malware can log your keystrokes or simply collect your information; why risk it? Avoid as well anything sensitive that requires a password and log out of anything for which your computer has saved your login information.

2 .See if your computer already has anti-malware software installed. If there isn't any, immediately download and install some, making sure you're certain that the software is legit (many malware programs disguise themselves as legit anti-malware programs). Once some protection is installed, update it as often as necessary, at least once per day. More and more new malware is created each day, be sure your software can keep up. The best programs auto-update whenever anything new is available.

3.The next step then is to use the protective software. Allow it to scan the whole of your computer, and allow it to delete anything that it brings up as a problem. This alone will take care of most of your problems, but for more tenacious malware programs you may need to download additional removal tools (again, triple-checking the legitimacy thereof).

4.Lastly, once everything is taken care of and your computer is once again free and clear of malware, think about ways in which the infection could have happened in the first place. Avoid any sketchy websites or links from which you may have picked up the problem; this is the simplest and most obvious way to protect yourself from future attacks.

The problem of malware will only continue to grow and worsen as newer and more malicious programs are created each day. Protect yourself now before it's too late.