It is important to ensure your PC is secured when connected to the internet, the internet is plagued with lots of very bad applications and "code" which if infects your computer can have some very serious affects to the PC causing pain and misery to the user. The name best known for this type of application is known as "Malware" and comes in many different forms.
Below is a list of some of the best known and some of the unknown Malware problems you may encouter if you DONT propoerly protect your computer.
Viruses:
As malicious programs that
are buried within an
existing program, viruses
replicate themselves and
spread from machine to
machine. Viruses are a top
malware headache, generating
everything from relatively
harmless prank messages to
commands that destroy
valuable programs and data.
A virus may activate
immediately or lay dormant
for a year or more before
attacking its host system.
Worms:
Worms and viruses are
similar in that they both
self replicate. But a worm
is designed specifically to
spread extremely rapidly and
surreptitiously. It can hurt
a system by rapid
reproduction, sucking up
storage and memory resources
or network bandwidth. It may
also deposit a Trojan horse.
Trojan horses:
Like a virus, a
Trojan horse is a
destructive program that
presents itself as a
harmless application. Unlike
viruses, however, Trojan
horses don't replicate
themselves. On the other
hand, they do perform one or
more destructive tasks once
activated, such as stealing
identity or financial data.
A Trojan horse may also be
designed to make its host
more vulnerable to future
attacks or simply activate
to destroy hard-drive
applications or data.
Typically, Trojan horses
gain access to systems by
masquerading as a useful
program or item.
Rootkits: A
rootkit is a specialized and
particularly dangerous from
of malware. Rootkits
essentially subvert the core
operating system and its
loading mechanisms,
inserting their own code
into the basic core software
operating the system. This
makes them extremely
difficult to detect and
eradicate.
Backdoors or
Trapdoors: A hidden
bypass to a program's
security area, a backdoor or
trapdoor may be created by a
programmer to expedite
troubleshooting or for some
other innocuous purpose. But
once discovered, the
technique may be used by an
attacker to damage, destroy
or steal data. A program
with a known backdoor or
trapdoor may itself be
considered malware.
Spam:
Unwanted email, besides
being a nuisance, is often
used by attackers as a tool
for leading unsuspecting
recipients to Web sites
where viruses, worms,
spyware and other types of
malware can be installed on
their systems.
Spyware:
Spyware is software
surreptitiously installed on
a computer to send
information about a user's
Web-surfing habits to an
external location. Some
spyware is relatively
innocuous, designed to
generate data about
shopping, viewing or other
habits without revealing the
identities of individual
users. Malicious spyware,
however, may be used to
hijack Web browsers in order
to change their home pages,
receive waves of pop-up ads
or ignore user navigation
commands.
Botnets:
Armies of "zombie" computers
infected by a Trojan horse
and commanded by an
attacker, botnets can be
used to launch spam email
campaigns, viruses or DDoS
(distributed denial of
service) attacks on Web
sites for either amusement
or extortion purposes.
Typically, these botnets are
built up secretly over
several months before being
activated.
How can you protect yourself from above?
Various levels of protection:Firewall - Either hardware or software
Anti Virus
Spam filters
Spyware blockers
Popup blocker
Registry protection
Many of above are free but offer limited capabilities, talk to us today for some free advise on what is available, be aware though the internet is also full of sites that offer free scans but actually dont fix anything some even have adverse effects on your PC caussing even more problems.
For some free advise, talk to CisCARE
