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Have you ever wondered how malware, spyware, scareware, crapware, or other undesirable software might get on a computer? Well, for ages, we have faced these issues and even today, there are some who still don't understand the risks brought about or involved with such malicious program's or activities.
To help you understand better, we are gonna have an example pc, setup by an individual who wanted to just get online with his windows 7 pc without any care of personal data or pc security.
Freshly Installed - Pre Malware
Here in our test pc the number of processes (and type) that were running on our freshly installed Windows 7 system. The install was so fresh that the only protection that this system had was the Windows Firewall and Windows Defender to keep the malware and virus hordes at bay.
How Some Malware Gets On Your Computer
Malware, spyware, and other junk software makes it onto your computer for a number of reasons:
* You installed something you really shouldn't have, from an untrustworthy source. Often these include screensavers, toolbars, or torrents that you didn't scan for viruses.
* You didn't pay attention when installing a "reputable" application that bundles "optional" crapware.
* You've already managed to get yourself infected, and the malware installs even more malware.
* You aren't using a quality Anti-Virus or Anti-Spyware application.
On our example system we installed Digsby Messenger, a very popular "reputable" application. This was the regular install version, there are attempts to get you to install undesirable software or make "not so good" changes on your computer. If a person is not careful, then their system becomes infected.
The real trick with Digsby (and other software that is set up with the same installation style) is that clicking on "Decline" still allows the installation of Digsby itself to proceed. But can you imagine how things can end up for those people who may think or believe that the only way to get Digsby or similar software installed is to click on "Accept"? It has a really deceptive style!
It only took 2.5 hours to reach the level described in our article...simply surfing wherever for "whatever looked interesting or different", downloading things like screensavers, file-sharing applications, and installing questionable software from advertisements.
The possibilities for becoming infected with viruses or malware were rather high with little to no protection or forethought given concerning what was installed or for the websites visited. Searches for various "less than desirable" pictures, screensavers, clicking on ads, etc. made it very easy to find trouble�perhaps the better way to phrase that is that it was very easy for trouble to find our example system.
What is scareware?
What is scareware? It is software that once installed on your system will try to trick you into believing that you have a highly infected system with some very high "numbers of infections" found. These programs will constantly bother you to register and purchase the software in order to clean up your computer system.
Here you can see two examples of well known scareware. SpywareStop and AntiSpyware 2009. Do not be surprised if you notice that these two "separate" softwares seem to be extremely alike in looks, style, and operation. They are exactly alike�the same wolf just different sheep skins. This is a common practice to stay ahead of legitimate anti-malware and anti-virus software and not be deleted before hopefully being purchased by unsuspecting computer users.
So, ever wondered what happens when you register such rogue software? well yes you and your pc are at a larger risk then you can imagine by giving in your details such as e-mail and credit card no, etc.
Another way you can get infected are popups, they are anoying windows that just pop onto your screen unwanted and uninvited but, to a general user, the urge of clicking to know what it is or to participate in that survey offer, well you just called in the dooms squad.
So, how does one protect oneself from such dangers?
It's simple, use legitimate and known pc security softwares and tools, do not install any rogue or unknown softwares, disable popups and have a good anti-virus and a firewall that can do the job.
To help you understand better, we are gonna have an example pc, setup by an individual who wanted to just get online with his windows 7 pc without any care of personal data or pc security.
Freshly Installed - Pre Malware
Here in our test pc the number of processes (and type) that were running on our freshly installed Windows 7 system. The install was so fresh that the only protection that this system had was the Windows Firewall and Windows Defender to keep the malware and virus hordes at bay.
How Some Malware Gets On Your Computer
Malware, spyware, and other junk software makes it onto your computer for a number of reasons:
* You installed something you really shouldn't have, from an untrustworthy source. Often these include screensavers, toolbars, or torrents that you didn't scan for viruses.
* You didn't pay attention when installing a "reputable" application that bundles "optional" crapware.
* You've already managed to get yourself infected, and the malware installs even more malware.
* You aren't using a quality Anti-Virus or Anti-Spyware application.
On our example system we installed Digsby Messenger, a very popular "reputable" application. This was the regular install version, there are attempts to get you to install undesirable software or make "not so good" changes on your computer. If a person is not careful, then their system becomes infected.
The real trick with Digsby (and other software that is set up with the same installation style) is that clicking on "Decline" still allows the installation of Digsby itself to proceed. But can you imagine how things can end up for those people who may think or believe that the only way to get Digsby or similar software installed is to click on "Accept"? It has a really deceptive style!
It only took 2.5 hours to reach the level described in our article...simply surfing wherever for "whatever looked interesting or different", downloading things like screensavers, file-sharing applications, and installing questionable software from advertisements.
The possibilities for becoming infected with viruses or malware were rather high with little to no protection or forethought given concerning what was installed or for the websites visited. Searches for various "less than desirable" pictures, screensavers, clicking on ads, etc. made it very easy to find trouble�perhaps the better way to phrase that is that it was very easy for trouble to find our example system.
What is scareware?
What is scareware? It is software that once installed on your system will try to trick you into believing that you have a highly infected system with some very high "numbers of infections" found. These programs will constantly bother you to register and purchase the software in order to clean up your computer system.
Here you can see two examples of well known scareware. SpywareStop and AntiSpyware 2009. Do not be surprised if you notice that these two "separate" softwares seem to be extremely alike in looks, style, and operation. They are exactly alike�the same wolf just different sheep skins. This is a common practice to stay ahead of legitimate anti-malware and anti-virus software and not be deleted before hopefully being purchased by unsuspecting computer users.
So, ever wondered what happens when you register such rogue software? well yes you and your pc are at a larger risk then you can imagine by giving in your details such as e-mail and credit card no, etc.
Another way you can get infected are popups, they are anoying windows that just pop onto your screen unwanted and uninvited but, to a general user, the urge of clicking to know what it is or to participate in that survey offer, well you just called in the dooms squad.
So, how does one protect oneself from such dangers?
It's simple, use legitimate and known pc security softwares and tools, do not install any rogue or unknown softwares, disable popups and have a good anti-virus and a firewall that can do the job.
