Greetings & Salutations

Tis the Season of Viruses.  Christopher's Computers has been seeing more and more computers infected with all types of Mal-Ware, which slows and even stops the usability of your machine.  We'd like to take time in this newsletter to help you understand what it means, and what you can do to help prevent this happening to you.

One question we frequently hear:  Why do I get viruses, even with an anti-virus program?  The answer is simply this:  New Mal-Ware is coming out on a daily basis.  Even the best, or most expensive anti-virus program will not be able to protect you from everything out there on the "World Wild Web"  The internet is not unlike the old American Wild West.  It is so vast and has innumerable sources from around the globe that it cannot be policed.  You take your chances when surfing the net on unknown, and uncharted territory. 

The next question soon arises: What do virus-writers get out of it?  Two things: Power and/or Money.  The goal here is to deliver unwanted advertising pop-ups, gain personal information (such as your credit card number), monitoring your surfing habits for marketing, or routing you to other websites.

In the following articles, we will discuss the different types of Mal-Ware to help you remain knowledgeable, and hopefully not fall victim to these malicious maladies.

Rogue Scanners

Masquerading as a helpful utility, rogue scanners scare you into thinking you have X number of viruses and trojans so that you will purchase their software in order to get rid of it.  These are not viruses, in and of themselves.  It is merely a scam to fool you into giving them money. 

Some of the more frequent rogue scanners which we've removed from people's computers are Antivirus 2008 and Antivirus 2009, Anti-Spyware Master, MSAntivirus & System Doctor Free to name a few.  It looks very official, often mirroring the feel of Microsoft Windows or other well-used and trusted companies.  It looks as though its scanning your computer, but its really just an animation.  It will not go away until you pay for it; but then, often, you will be plied by other 'helpful-seeming' rogue scanners, as the first one you bought and downloaded added a few extra files to your computer (unbeknownst to you) and now will redirect your computer in high hopes of duping you again and again and again. To be completely rid of these nasty and annoying programs and pop-ups have Christopher's Computers completely remove the rogue scanner for you.

Trojans

Trojans are aptly named after the Greek mythological 'Trojan Horse'  It appears to be something desirable, such as a free program, screen-saver or music file.  Not only do you get what you clicked on initially, but, as a bonus, you also receive another small program (or two, or three...) which hides in your files and allows others to control your computer.  Now the term for your controlled computer is called a 'Zombie Machine'.  Most owners of a zombie computer have no idea that their system is being used this way.  It looks and acts as usual, but can be used by spammers to send out email from your computer, making it quite difficult to find the actual culprit.

Worms

Worms (the very image this word elicits gives one the heebee jeebees) will worm their way across the internet very quickly.  They travel as one person becomes infected in their email, the worm then reads the entire address book, and then sends itself out to everyone listed from another person named in your email addresses.  You can only imagine how quickly this then spreads as it takes hold of everyone else's address books it comes into contact with.  Hopefully your antivirus will catch it.  It is important that you update your antivirus program frequently.

Often these worms also carry hidden trojans, which will drop their payload on every computer they touch while they spread via address books throughout the internet like lightning. 

Ad-Ware & Spy-Ware

Ad-Ware is an advertising-supported software.  Some well known programs which carry Ad-Ware are: Kazaa, ICQ, and Real Player.  Some Ad-Ware can also carry Spy-Ware, which spies on your surfing habits and gives you targeted advertising. Less insidious than other viruses, it is still an invasion of your privacy AND will use up your computer's resources, thus making your computer more sluggish and slow.

What can you do?  Use both your anti-virus program and anti-spyware program to help guard you.  Keep them updated.  Stay in the mainstream part of the internet, sites you know and trust.  Do not take part in forwarding emails.  Get a clean up.  Get an upgrade.  1 gigabyte of memory usually runs around $79.  Just hold on; soon you'll be flying across the internet, clean and free of those nasty, intrusive Mal-Ware Maladies.

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