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 complicated. Unfortunately, it is susceptible to all sorts of cyber attacks and malware. How to determine that your computer is infected with a virus or adware worm?
Harm
What is the essence of the issue? If you decide that your computer is infected with a virus, it is important to understand what exactly is meant.
A computer virus is malicious software that can self-copy, infiltrate important codes, system areas, destroy boot sectors, and move to other systems over the network.
The main task of malware is distribution. The fact that a virus can remove something, hide it, add it, etc., is just its side effects.
It also happens that behind such an “evil” file there are no motives for programming malicious effects. But due to incompatibilities or some subtleties of interaction, the system may fail.
Viruses can "live" on drives and from there absorb all the resources.
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 improving. So, viruses can “cover” entire state systems that are protected by special methods. But even such a defense can not resist some of the "villains."
Groups
Malicious software differs by distribution methods and functionality. Previously, they could only be picked up via 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, as they sometimes have ambiguous characteristics. Therefore, defining them in any group is not easy.
There are programs that affect certain areas of the system. Viruses can reach files, boot services, source codes, scripts, etc.
There is a classification according to the mechanism of infection. For example, there are “pests” that are added to the executable file, or those that spoil a document that cannot be restored. There are also viruses that "live" separately from everyone, constantly affecting the PC system.
Further, malicious software can be divided into the affected operating systems. It has long been developed special viruses for Windows, Android, iOS, Linux, etc.
There are virtual “cybercriminals” who can use special technologies inside your system. So it will even be difficult for you to understand how to determine if your computer is infected.
Specialists share viruses by the language in which they were written. And also there are softwares that use additional functions in the system. They can spy, collect the necessary information, record user actions, etc.
Warning
You can warn about cases when a notification appears that your computer is infected. What to do in this case?
Of course, the most popular antivirus programs have long been the main helpers. But recent malware developments have become so advanced that security programs may not be able to handle all. Therefore, it is important to follow some recommendations in order not to catch the virus and not to think afterwards how to determine that your computer is infected.
Try not to use privileged accounts unnecessarily. This refers to a Windows administrator type account. If the virus receives its data, you can say goodbye to all your data and to the system as a whole.
Remember that running suspicious and little-known programs from untrusted sources also leads to infection. You should be wary if the system tries to change its files on its own.
It is also worth taking care of the potentially dangerous functionality of the system. Of course, it’s better not to climb unknown resources and look at the address bar. Use trusted distributions.
If you often work with important data, it is better to drop them on an external drive or make backups. You can capture an entire system image with deployment.
The system is in danger
Many people wonder: how to determine if your computer is infected. The answer is simple. You will probably guess that something is wrong with the system according to existing signs.
The wake-up call is:
- The appearance of unexpected messages or images on the screen.
- Regular reproduction of sounds, which can randomly occur at any time.
- Self-activation programs.
- Connecting some utilities to the Internet without your knowledge.
- Sending incomprehensible messages (spam) from your email address to your friends.
- System freezes or slows down.
- A huge number of system errors and notifications.
- Inability to boot system.
- The disappearance of personal data: files, folders and archives.
- Incorrect browser operation.
Of course, these are far from all the signs that can occur during infection. There are a lot of variations: from large pornographic banners to completely shutting down the PC.
First steps
What to do if the computer is infected with a virus? If you were able to determine that a "worm" has settled in the system, then you need to immediately take a series of actions.
It is important to immediately refuse bank payments and electronic wallets. Do not switch to any important accounts and financial systems.
If the PC does not have an antivirus program, 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 disable the Internet and the local network. So that the virus couldn’t “call” someone for help, or “hide” for a while on the World Wide Web. If the antivirus program finds malware, it will automatically decide what to do with it: it can be deleted immediately or quarantined.
By the way, often some protection 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 make sure in advance that the antivirus program “settles” on the computer. If it prevents you from working, you can turn it off. But he knows how to determine if your computer is infected.
If no option has helped, it’s worth moving on to decisive action.
Additional help
Of course, if you do not understand the computer at all, it is better to immediately call the wizard, which will "cure" 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 encounter an ordinary worm or trojan.
If you understand that this is a complex malicious program that is not so easy to pull out of the system on your own, you can try using third-party programs. In some cases, you will need to connect the HDD to another PC or boot the system from disk.
conclusions
Viruses are a nuisance that probably 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 an antivirus program will be able to find it. She will cure or remove it on her own.
If you got a trojan or a worm, then you can deal with it yourself by looking for it in the system files or the root directory. To find 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 delete it from the PC, but also to save your personal data. If documents are not important to you, or you don’t have anything on your computer, you can simply reinstall the operating system.