Semalt Expert: Know Your Malware

Computer users always have to deal with issues that affect the computer, whether the issue is internally developed or it comes from external sources. One of the major concerns users have to deal with on a daily basis is the safety of their computer with relation to malware infection. No user wants to see his or her computer acting in a way suggesting that it might be infected. Signs such as slow performance or constant freezing of the system drive one into thinking that malware has got into the computer, and it's really a big worry.

The most common suspect of a computer acting up is a virus, but sometimes it's malware, spyware or adware. To avoid the worry of these things getting into your computer, Lisa Mitchell, the Semalt Customer Success Manager, offers to consider the following security measures:

Installing anti-virus or anti-malware software

Computer systems vendors and other IT service providers offer anti-virus with anti-adware, anti-spyware and other tools meant to keep every kind of internet security attack on the computer at bay. Security enforcement through anti-malware is entirely the responsibility of the computer owner, but uninformed users don't realize it. There are those who'll even uninstall malware protection software citing that it's affecting the computer's speed and performance. You cannot make this mistake if you want your computer to serve you for long. If your computer's performance is going down, you better add more RAM than uninstall critical applications like anti-virus applications.

Keeping computer software updated

This is another aspect of internet security that many people often forget. It's important that all software installed on a computer is kept up-to-date at all times. IT is the fastest growing industry, and as so, new advancements (both good and bad) are discovered each other day. As software providers are busy looking for ways to improve their products, malware creators and perpetrators are always looking for loop holes in the systems and applications to spread their malware. Luckily, competitive software providers produce regular updates and patches to their systems to make sure all loop holes are closed. That's why you need to apply the updates and patches as soon as they come out because they are meant to keep your computer safer.

Regular computer scans

Most anti-malware software is designed to perform regular scans as per a certain schedule, but sometimes a computer user can change these settings. Maintaining the default settings allow for regular automatic scans to ensure that any detected malware is destroyed before it gets into the computer. And if you feel like the set frequency for automatic scans is unsatisfactory, you can perform a manual virus scan at any time to ensure that the computer is clean and safe.

Securing your network

Malware can be spread to computers connected to a network. That means if you have a network of 10 computers connected to a network, even though simple methods like Wi-Fi, and one computer is infected, then all the other 9 computers can easily get infected too. Keeping computer networks secure entails putting in place strong authentication measures to control unauthorized access to the network.

As long as a computer is connected to the internet, there are endless possibilities of malware getting into the computer. But the above methods, if used properly, can help a great deal in avoiding malware infections and keeping the computer, the files, and the user safe from various forms of cyber crime.