Technology Tips – Published August 2024 in the Guide and Digest
By Don Trauger – Kennett
I certainly hope it is not hacked but how can you be reasonably assured it is free from unseen or unknown malware. Malware is a general term for any program that takes partial or total unwanted control of your computer. Some malware is obvious by displaying strange messages on the screen. What I’m concerned with is malware that can run silently in the background. It requires no user interaction but it is silently recording your keystrokes. So, you can say goodbye to protection of your passwords. Of course, your passwords are encrypted while in storage on your computer so you are protected, to a point. However, when you type your password to log in to your bank, investments, or other sensitive sites, your keystrokes can be copied if you have a certain type of malware infection.
There is not one legitimate anti-virus company that can say they offer 100% protection against malware. If they do detect something and successfully block it then you “should” be fine. Now let’s analyze this situation. First, do you feel 100% comfortable with this response? You shouldn’t. This requires a response on your part. Your anti-virus may have done its job but how did they accomplish the task at hand. Did they block it upon installation of the malware or did they block later on after it ran on your computer. Its best to have an alternate tool (program) to use in case of a known infection. In fact, its even better to run a second program frequently to ensure your computer is free of malware. Yes, you can scan your computer with your anti-virus but remember it will be no better than its blocking capability and it can offer only a single opinion.
As a second opinion, the Malwarebytes company does a good job in providing a high level of detection and removal of malware from your computer. This free program can be downloaded here: https://www.malwarebytes.com/mwb-download/thankyou. Another free program from Malwarebytes is ADWCleaner. You can download it here: https://downloads.malwarebytes.com/file/adwcleaner.
Some things to be aware of in addition to the above, is your computer running slowly or is it crashing requiring frequent reboots? Also, look for strange pop-ups, or removal of your favorite search engine (Google, Bing). Just be aware of anything unusual. Don’t see anything unusual? That’s what a sophisticated malware creator loves to hear. They write a higher-level code to do the job they want without you having any idea that anything is wrong. What a world we live in!
When you download Malwarebytes (Free) it should be present in your Downloads folder as MBSetup.exe. Double click it. Click Install. Skip the offer to install Browser Guard. When Malwarebytes opens, in the Real-Time Protection category, click the 3 vertical dots then click Settings just below it. Turn off the 5 switches in the Real-Time Protection. This is part of an advanced 14-day protection trial. It has been known to interfere with anti-virus programs and it is not necessary to have it running to perform a scan or even afterwards. Next, click Dashboard in the upper left and click Scan to detect any malware. When running a scan, the program will first update itself, then at the end it will produce a report showing anything it found. It will deactivate any active malware it finds. A secondary cleanup in Detection History (Quarantine) may be necessary to remove deactivated components.
Having a second or even a third malware cleanup tool is mandatory in this day and age. In addition, having something besides your anti-virus will possibly save you downtime and expense.