I assume you're all here because you're encountering issues with your PC/Mac and would like to solve the issues that are occurring within your
lovely machine. Before I get into this I would like to tell you what we'll be going through. At first I'll give you a brief summary of what a Virus and Malware is.
Assuming you both believe these are the exact same things, they are not.
Malware is a term broadly used to define certain types of intrusion software, these soft-wares include: Trojans, adware, spyware, ransom ware and last but not least, scare ware. Malware is any software that is used to disrupt a the usage of a computer and gather personal data. Malware may be very hard to find and is hard to find as it is intended to steal information on computer users for an extended period without the users consent or knowledge.
A computer virus is a Malware program that when executed by a user, replicated itself into certain directories and programs. Essentially like a human virus. It penetrates the system fibers and data disks and can steal a computers CPU (energy) and hard disk space. Viruses can log key strokes, however not all viruses carry a destructive payload or attempt to hide themselves. The one and only defining characteristic that makes a Virus and other Malware programs different is that they are self-replicating computer programs that install themselves without user consent.
You can prevent these harmful software programs by using certain soft-wares such as; Sandboxie, Anti-Virus software, Anti-Malware and File Locks. We'll go through each of these and my recommended programs that can help keep your computer clean.
SandBoxie - SandBoxie uses isolation technology to separate programs from an underlying OS to prevent unwanted changes from happening to your personal data, programs or applications that rest on your hard drive.
In simpler terms, if you download a new file and are worried about it being a virus. Run it on Sandboxie and the program will be isolated on its on and be put into a simulated environment.
Sandboxie also protects your browser if you run Mozilla, Chrome or Safari through it. It does this by isolating all incoming connections through the browser and the viruses stay in that simulation.
Note: Sandboxie can't prevent RATs. We'll be discussing that later on.
Anti-Malware is certainly one of the most important programs you could need on your PC as it scans for registry errors and bugs within your system that a virus may have left behind when you clear it with an Anti-Virus. This is the defining feature in Anti-Malware such as MalwareBytes.
MalwareBytes - is probably the most influential and best Anti-Malware program out there. There may be many more but in my opinion this one is the best so there's no need for me to look up any others.
AVG- Anti-Virus is almost a must need for keeping your PC safe and secure. AVG is probably the most influential one of these as BitDefender and Avast are good. The difference between those and AVG; It scans for new viruses on your PC and stores them in a Database so when someone happens to get that same virus it gets picked up faster and more easily. This is why it's difficult for crypted malicious files to get past AVG because the Database is constantly being updated.
I have a few more tips and tricks, I will add them later!
Be safe everyone!
"It takes one man to change the world, but it takes the whole world to change a man"