In the age of technology, we often have to deal not only with the convenience of using gadgets, but also with their problems. The same can be said about the computer. The PC system is very complex. It is, unfortunately, susceptible to all sorts of cyber attacks and malware. How can you tell if your computer is infected with a virus or adware worm?
Harm
What is the question? If you decide that your computer is infected with a virus, it is important to understand what exactly it is.
A computer virus is malicious software that can replicate itself, infiltrate critical codes, system areas, destroy boot sectors, and cross over to other systems over a network.
The main purpose of malware is to spread. The fact that a virus can remove, hide, add something, etc. is just its side effects.
It also happens thatsuch an "evil" file is not worth any motive for programming malicious effects. But due to incompatibility or some subtleties of interaction, the system may fail.
Viruses can "live" on drives and absorb all resources from there.
Advanced
To understand how to determine that a computer is infected, you need to understand the types of viruses and their interaction on the system.
Unfortunately, with the development of technology, malware has been actively improved. So, viruses can “cover” entire state systems that are protected by special methods. But even such a defense cannot resist some of the "villains".
Groups
Malious software is distinguished by distribution methods and functionality. Previously, they could only be picked up through storage media such as a floppy disk. Now most of them come to our PC via the Internet.
There is no standardized classification of viruses because they sometimes have ambiguous characteristics. Therefore, it is not easy to assign them to any group.
Distinguish between programs that affect certain areas of the system. Viruses can get to files, boot services, source codes, scripts, etc.
There is also a classification according to the mechanism of infection. For example, there are "pests" that are added to an executable file, or those that corrupt a document that cannot be recovered. There are also viruses that "live" separately from everyone else, constantlyaffecting the PC system.
Next, malicious software can be divided according to the operating systems it affects. We have long developed special viruses for Windows, Android, iOS, Linux, etc.
There are virtual "intruders" who can use special technologies inside your system. This will even make it difficult for you to understand how to determine that your computer is infected.
Specialists separate viruses according to the language in which they were written. And also there are softwares that use additional functions in the system. They can spy, collect information, log user actions, etc.
Caution
You can prevent the occurrence of a notification that your computer is infected. What to do in this case?
Of course, the most popular anti-virus programs have long been the main assistants. But recent malware developments have become so advanced that security programs can't handle everything. Therefore, it is important to follow some recommendations in order not to catch a virus and not to think later how to determine that your computer is infected.
Try not to use privileged accounts unnecessarily. This refers to an account such as a Windows administrator. If the virus gets his data, you can say goodbye to all your data and the system as a whole.
Remember that running suspicious and little-known programs from unverified sources also leads to infection. You should beware if the system tries to change its filesyourself.
You should also take care of potentially dangerous system functionality. Of course, it is better not to “climb” on unknown resources and look closely at the address bar. Use trusted distributions.
If you often work with important data, it is better to dump them on an external drive or make backups. You can capture an image of the entire system with deployment.
The system is in danger
Many people wonder how to determine that your computer is infected. The answer is simple. You will definitely guess that something is wrong with the system by the existing signs.
The alarm bells are:
- Unexpected messages or images appear on the screen.
- Regular playing of sounds that can randomly happen at any time.
- Self-activation programs.
- Connect some utilities to the Internet without your knowledge.
- Sending strange messages (spam) from your email address to your friends.
- System hangs or runs slowly.
- A huge number of system errors and notifications.
- Unable to boot the system.
- Disappearance of personal data: files, folders and archives.
- Incorrect browser operation.
Of course, these are not all the signs that can happen during infection. There are a lot of variations: from large pornographic banners to a complete shutdown of the PC.
First steps
What should I do if my computer is infected with a virus? If youcould determine that a “worm” has settled in the system, then a number of actions must be taken immediately.
It is important to immediately abandon bank payments and electronic wallets. Do not transfer to any important accounts and financial systems.
If there is no antivirus program on your PC, it is advisable to use at least its online version. So you can quickly scan the system and find out what "surprises" are hidden there.
It is best to turn off the Internet and local network. So that the virus could not “call” someone to help itself, or “hide” on the World Wide Web for a while. If the antivirus finds malware, it will automatically decide what to do with it: it can either delete it immediately or move it to quarantine.
By the way, often some security programs cannot cope with such problems, so you will have to install others. But this, in turn, is also not entirely safe. Therefore, try to take care in advance that the antivirus program "settled" on the computer. If it interferes with your work, you can turn it off. But it is he who knows how to determine that your computer is infected.
If none of the options helped, you should take decisive action.
Additional help
Of course, if you do not understand the computer at all, then it is better to immediately call the wizard who will "heal" your PC. If you have at least superficial knowledge about the system, you can try to find the virus file yourself. You can only come to this option if you are faced withregular worm or trojan.
If you understand that you have a complex malware that is not so easy to pull out of the system yourself, you can try using third-party programs. In some cases, you will need to connect the hard drive to another PC or boot the system from a disk.
Conclusions
Viruses are a nuisance that must have happened to every user. Attackers around the world are trying to steal personal data or just play a trick on an inexperienced user.
If you have a simple malicious file in front of you, then most likely your antivirus program will be able to find it. She will heal or remove it on her own.
If you have got a Trojan or a worm, then you can deal with it yourself by finding it in the system files or the root directory. To search for it, use any file manager that can sort all the files in the system by date.
If a real "villain" is wound up in the system, then only real specialists can cope with it. So, they will help not only to remove it from the PC, but also to save your personal data. If documents are not important to you, or you have nothing on your computer, you can simply reinstall the operating system.
