There is currently a huge battle going on in cyber world. While software manufacturers are working overtime to plug loopholes in their products to deny entry to viruses and spyware, it is tough to keep up with new threats that are released almost daily. The anti-malware manufacturers are also consolidating and sharpening their products continuously to combat new malware; but so are the criminals who launch these threats. Moreover, these criminals are devising new and ingenuous ways to enter your system without your consent or knowledge.
The responsibility for protecting your computer from these intrusions lies with you. You will need a combination of awareness and sophisticated tools to keep these enemies away from your computer. This article will provide you with ways to identify and avoid threats from malware.
It is usually quite simple to identify if your computer is infected by malware. System slow-downs or crashes are the most common and obvious symptoms of a malware infection. Adware in the form of popup advertisements can prove to be annoying even if you are not connected to the internet. Malware can also cause your internet browser to change its home page or show extra menus and search bars.
Malicious programs or malware generally disguise themselves as system files and can cause unwanted errors. For example, a virus program can camouflage itself as the smss.exe or wscntfy.exe files, which are Windows process files. A wscntfy.exe or smss.exe virus file if installed can remotely access the systems Service Control Manager and spread by infecting computers with open user accounts.
Malware files such as winivstr.exe can be detected only if the users get a popup message stating the computer is infected and advices the user to download a certain antimalware program to get rid of it. As a vigilant user, you must never download the recommended tool because almost always it is a rogue software. And, installing such tools can result in increasing the malware infection instead of reducing them.
Although virus and malware infection is a fairly common occurrence, it can be avoided to a great extent. Taking simple and regular corrective measures can go a long way in keeping your system safe from infection. Listed below are a few of the measures you can use to combat malware infection.
- Update your operating system, device drivers and applications with the latest service packs and security releases on a regular basis.
- Update your antivirus and anti spyware software programs and run regular full scans on your computer—this not only helps prevent malware infections, but also removes winivstr.exe and other such malware files from your PC.
- Perform registry cleanup on a regular basis. Most of the malicious programs add several unwanted entries in your Windows registry, causing it to grow up to a very large size. A registry cleanup tool makes it simple to remove these unwanted entries from your registry and can restore your PC’s performance to a great extent.
- Install a firewall on your computer to monitor and filter the files sent and received on your system through the Internet.
- Using complicated and complex passwords and avoiding creation of open share spaces can help you in reducing malware infections to a large extent.
- Disabling AutoPlay and network shares that are not used can also help in preventing malware infection.
In addition to these measures, be sure to keep a close watch on what, how and where you download a file or a program and always scan e-mail attachments before opening them.
