Computer Viruses and Defending Your System
I. Understand what you are fighting...

This guide is an attempt to explain the different types of viruses and other dangers that could penetrate your system inadvertently or due to malicious behavior. First I'll cover what types of viruses exist and explain exactly what they are.

Viruses:
A virus is a small piece of software or code designed to piggyback itself to a program in your computer. Every time that program is run, the virus also runs and has a chance to replicate or reproduce itself and then attach to another program in the computer. Usual symptoms are the program being used does not operate normally, and it operates more slowly. You may also notice an overall performance lag within you system.

E-mail Viruses:
These viruses migrate by means of e-mail messages &/or attachments. They spread by e-mailing themselves to every address found in the address book in the computer. Given the sheer volume of e-mail traffic on a global basis, this allows these viruses to spread very rapidly, and the volume created has forced e-mail server shutdowns on a number of occasions.

Executable Viruses:
These are pieces of code attached to a common program like a popular game or a popular word processor. A person might download an infected game from a bulletin board and run it.and boot sector viruses.

Bootable Sector Viruses:
Viruses loaded into memory so they could keep running in the background as long as the computer remained on. Another trick was the ability to infect the boot sector on floppy disks and hard disks. The boot sector is a small program that is the first part of the operating system that the computer loads. The boot sector contains a tiny program that tells the computer how to load the rest of the operating system. By putting its code in the boot sector, a virus can guarantee it gets executed. It can load itself into memory immediately, and it is able to run whenever the computer is on. Boot sector viruses can infect the boot sector of any floppy disk inserted in the machine, and on college campuses where lots of people share machines they spread like crazy.

Worms:
These are small pieces of software that makes use of computer networks and security holes found in them to replicate and spread. Most worms are written to detect and exploit a specific security hole or flaw. Once a computer on a network is discovered with the appropriate weakness, it gets attacked and infected by the worm. The worm then scans the network looking for another computer with the same hole and the process repeats. Now there are two computers for it to replicate from. The process continually repeats itself, but with the speed of today’s computers and networks, a network of say 50 computers and a properly engineered worm can easily infect all 50 computers in the network in under an hour. Probably the most famous worm of recent times was Code Red. In July of 2001 it replicated itself over 250,000 times in just nine hours.

Trojans (Trojan Horses):
Simply stated, a Trojan is a program. The program claims to do one thing, but when run, it does damage to the computer running it (for example, it may be designed to erase your hard drive). Fortunately, a straight Trojan Horse has no way of replicating itself.

Malware:
Malware is basically any type of computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses, Spyware and Adaware.

II. What tools can be used in your defense...

There are many different applications for various types of Malware that exist today. Below is a listing and a brief description of what each application is intended to do.

CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less that a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware!

Spybot: Search & Destroy can detect and remove a multitude of adware files and modules from your computer. Spybot also can clean program and Web-usage tracks from your system, which is especially useful if you share your computer. Modules chosen for removal can be sent directly to the included file shredder, ensuring complete elimination from your system. For advanced users, it allows you to fix Registry inconsistencies related to adware and to malicious program installations. The handy online-update feature ensures that Spybot always has the most current and complete listings of adware, dialers, and other uninvited system residents.

Ad-Aware Personal provides advanced protection from known data-mining, aggressive advertising, Trojans, dialers, malware, browser hijackers, and tracking components. This software is downloadable free of charge.

Ewido Anti-Spyware, the efficient solution against the new generation of threats spreading over the internet. Secure your data and protect your privacy against sypware, adware, trojans, dialer, keylogger and worms. We offer you advanced scanning and detection methods and state-of-the-art technology behind an easy to use interface.

CWShredder is the premier tool to find and remove traces of CoolWebSearch – the name for a wide range of insidious browser hijackers– from your PC. CWShredder is a free and very small utility for removing CoolWebSearch (aka CoolWwwSearch, White-Pages.ws, YouFindAll and many more other names).

HijackThis lists the contents of key areas of the Registry and hard drive--areas that are used by both legitimate programmers and hijackers. The program is continually updated to detect and remove new hijacks. It does not target specific programs and URLs, only the methods used by hijackers to force you onto their sites. As a result, false positives are imminent, and unless you're sure about what you're doing, you always should consult with knowledgable folks before deleting anything.

Spyware Blaster knows that Spyware, adware, browser hijackers, and dialers are some of the fastest-growing threats on the Internet today. By simply browsing to a web page, you could find your computer to be the brand-new host of one of these unwanted fiends!

Is you current AntiVirus about to expire or are you just looking for a some of the best protection you can find? Whichever it may be, or a reason not mentioned, we've got a miniature guide to help you with that decision as well.

Follow this link: Anti-Virus: tECh's Top 5
My personal list of Top 10 AntiVirus programs are covered in that guide. Decide what's best for you, but at ALL costs...stay protected!! I hope this little guide gives you some insight to what we all are up against and helps in keeping you and your ststem(s) malware free.

NOTE: If an application that you use is not added to this or you have extra info to throw in, please reply to this thread accordingly. The more information, the better.

Very nice...and thorough.I'm gonna have to bookmark this one for some of my family!

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