HAS YOUR COMPUTER BEEN INFECTED? WE CAN HELP

Malware Removal

Malware is software written specifically to harm and infect the host system. Malware includes viruses along with other types of software such as trojan horses, worms, spyware, and adware. Advanced malware such as ransomware are used to commit financial fraud and extort money from computer users. If your website has spam adware links or if on a mobile phone your website shows inaproprite and unauthorised ads, we can fix this.

Virus Removal

A virus is one type of malware and if you computer has been infected by a virus, don’t panic yet. Give us a call and a specialist will come and scan your computers, remove viruses, update your software a and get you back up and running.

Internet Security

If you have been impacted by a virus or malware you will know know how important internet security is. If you are fortunate enough not to have been affected by a virus then now is the time to act and back-up and protect your network and your data. Give us a call and a consultant can speak to you about internet security.

Types of Viruses

There are lots of different types of viruses and preventing viruses is easier and better than dealing with the effects of an infection. Below are 7 types of viruses:

1. Boot Sector Virus

From a user perspective, boot sector viruses are some of the most dangerous. Because they infect the master boot record, they are notoriously difficult to remove, often requiring a full system format. This is especially true if the virus has encrypted the boot sector or excessively damaged the code.
A Look at Some of the Worst Computer Viruses in History

They typically spread via removable media. They reached a peak in the 1990s when floppy disks were the norm, but you can still find them on USB drives and in email attachments. Luckily, improvements in BIOS architecture have reduced their prevalence in the last few years.

2. Direct Action Virus

A direct action virus is one of the two main types of file infector viruses (the other being a resident virus). The virus is considered “non-resident”; it doesn’t install itself or remain hidden in your computer’s memory.
It works by attaching itself to a particular type of file (typically EXE or COM files). When someone executes the file, it springs into life, looking for other similar files in the directory for it to spread to.

On a positive note, the virus does not typically delete files nor hinder your system’s performance. Aside from some files becoming inaccessible, it has a minimal impact on a user and can be easily removed with an anti-virus program.

3. Resident Virus

Resident viruses are the other primary type of file infectors. Unlike direct action viruses, they install themselves on a computer. It allows them to work even when the original source of the infection has been eradicated. As such, experts consider them to be more dangerous than their direct action cousin.

Depending on the programming of the virus, they can be tricky to spot and even trickier to remove. You can split resident viruses into two areas; fast infectors and slow infectors. Fast infectors cause as much damage as quickly as possible and are thus easier to spot; slow infectors are harder to recognize because their symptoms develop slowly.

In a worst-case scenario, they can even attach themselves to your anti-virus software, infecting every file the software scans. You often need a unique tool – such as an operating system patch – for their total removal.

4. Multipartite Virus

While some viruses are happy to spread via one method or deliver a single payload, Multipartite viruses want it all. A virus of this type may spread in multiple ways, and it may take different actions on an infected computer depending on variables, such as the operating system installed or the existence of certain files.

They can simultaneously infect both the boot sector and executable files, allowing them to act quickly and spread rapidly. The two-pronged attack makes them tough to remove. Even if you clean a machine’s program files, if the virus remains in the boot sector, it will immediately reproduce once you turn on the computer again.

5. Polymorphic Virus

According to Symantec, polymorphic viruses are one of the most difficult to detect for an anti-virus program. It claims anti-virus firms need to “spend days or months creating the detection routines needed to catch a single polymorphic”.
But why are they so hard to protect against? The clue is in the name. Anti-virus software can only blacklist one variant of a virus – but a polymorphic virus changes its signature (binary pattern) every time it replicates. To an anti-virus program, it looks like an entirely different piece of software, and can, therefore, elude the blacklist.

Antivirus software should be installed on every computer, but what doesn’t it take care of? Which aspects of your antivirus could leave you or your business exposed, even when you’ve installed and updated?

6. Overwrite Virus

To an end-user, an overwrite virus is one of the most frustrating, even if it’s not particularly dangerous for your system as a whole. That’s because it will delete the contents of any file which it infects; the only way to remove the virus is to delete the file, and consequently, lose its contents. It can infect both standalone files and entire pieces of software.

Overwrite viruses typically have low visibility and are spread via email, making them hard to identify for an average PC user. They enjoyed a heyday in the early 2000s with Windows 2000 and Windows NT, but you can still find them in the wild.

7. Spacefiller Virus

Also known as “Cavity Viruses”, spacefiller viruses are more intelligent than most of their counterparts. A typical modus operandi for a virus is to simply attach itself to a file, but spacefillers try to get into the empty space which can sometimes be found within the file itself.. This method allows it to infect a program without damaging the code or increasing its size, thus enabling it to bypass the need for the stealthy anti-detection techniques other viruses rely on.

Luckily, this type of virus is relatively rare, though the growth of Windows Portable Executable files is giving them a new lease of life.

Prevention is Better Than the Cure

As always, taking sensible steps to protect yourself is preferable to dealing with the potentially crippling fallout if you’re unlucky enough to get infected.

Use a highly-regarded anti-virus suite, don’t open emails from unrecognized sources, don’t trust free USB sticks from conferences and expos, don’t let strangers use your system, and don’t install software from random websites.

* Reference: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/types-computer-viruses-watch/