Security - Anti-Malware

Malware is a general name given to any poisonous code that infects your computer without your permission. These unbidden infections entwine themselves into your computer's operating system, often causing system slowdowns, errors, or compromising your personal data. It has become quite common to receive a virus or malware-infected email from a trusted friend or family member. Likewise, many legitimate websites get hacked and embedded with poisonous code without the knowledge of the sites' owners.

While browsing the internet, a user will often become infected just by browsing to an infected site. You need not click on anything at that page to get infected. The Java and ActiveX scripts automatically initiate the poisoned scripts and infect your system. Simply visiting the infected site is enough to infect your system with a rootkit, key logger, bots, worms, viruses, spyware, and other malicious items. These various infections are incredibly invasive, especially in the case of key loggers; key loggers are specifically designed to monitor keystroke, which makes them proficient at stealing user names, passwords, credit card numbers, and banking account numbers without the user's knowledge.

Website-based infections are becoming increasingly more prevalent, and the division in classification between anti-virus and anti-spyware or anti-malware has all but disappeared. Traditionally, the most common way to protect against a virus infection was by owning and installing a current antivirus (AV) program on your computer, and making sure that the virus definition files (VDF) were kept up-to-date. A relatively recent survey in October of 2012 revealed that 400 million new variants of malware were created in 2011. This averages out to 33 million variants of malware a month, and slightly over an average of one million new variants a day! Unfortunately, with so many new variants being introduced every day, these anti-malware definition files have become so large and cumbersome that they need to be updated daily, and slow computers down, sometimes to a crawl. Thankfully, new cloud-based technology has evolved to more efficiently combat this onslaught.

Not all AV products are equal in their ability to detect new and undiagnosed viruses, but we have put much time and energy into finding the best possible protection available. Webroot's SecureAnywhere uses the latest technology to detect viruses and malware. It scans for malware in the cloud before data even reaches your computer. Because the definition files run on large servers up in the cloud rather than on your computer, SecureAnywhere won't consume your computer's resources perform virus scanning and protection. Using this technology, your computer runs much faster without the need for pesky definition updates nor slow boot up speeds due to the loading of those massive definition files. We feel Secure Anywhere is the best anti-malware product on the market today.

The best way to prevent new infections is a two-pronged approach, using both SecureAnywhere and a browser virtualizer like SandboxIE. SandboxIE encapsulates your internet browser in an impenetrable bubble, isolating infections found on websites from your operating system and files. When you close or exit your browser, that bubble gets thrown out. We have found that SandboxIE is the only safe way to browse the internet due to the number of zero-day infections. Definition-based protection alone is no longer able to protect your system from the overwhelming number of poisonous variants injected into legitimate websites every day. The majority of recent infections have been coming through the web browser, but it is still important to protect yourself from infections that can, and do, come through traditional vectors such as email or USB flash drives. For more information on Secure Anywhere or SandboxIE, fill out our inquiry form and we will get back to you with more information and pricing.

Regardless of the type of malware infection you are dealing with, whether it is a variant of spyware or a virus, Madison Computer Works has the expertise to eradicate and prevent these scourges from infesting your computer. These infections are more than just a nuisance; they can compromise sensitive and personal information, and infect friends and family. Don't just live with these parasites. Call or email us and we will not only clean these infections, but provide you with the tools to prevent yourself from repeated infections. Our products and professional technicians will get you back up and running smoothly, at an affordable price.